The proposed second and third Tolworth towers, alongside the original 1960s skyscraper, would damage the area, be too high, ugly and ‘blocky’ and are just not right for the Broadway. That was the opinion of Ada Simpson, a resident giving evidence to the public inquiry into Kingston Council’s refusal of permission to triple the tower
The proposed second and third Tolworth towers, alongside the original 1960s skyscraper, would damage the area, be too high, ugly and ‘blocky’ and are just not right for the Broadway.
That was the opinion of Ada Simpson, a resident giving evidence to the public inquiry into Kingston Council’s refusal of permission to triple the tower blocks to create nearly 500 new flats.
The inquiry, chaired by planning inspector Yvonne Wright, resumes this morning (Tuesday) at 9.30am, and can be watched on the council’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/KingstonCouncil/featured
The argument is centring on how much ‘affordable’ housing should be included in the project (the council wants a lot, the developer wants none… but is prepared to go to 10%) and how ‘green’ the scheme should be.
Last week there were strong exchanges between the two barristers heading the case for the council (James Burton) and the developer (Scott Lyness) over proposals that the heating for the old, refurbished Tolworth Tower would be gas-fired, but the heating for two more tower blocks would be much greener.
Why, Mr Burton wanted to know, couldn’t green energy power everything in an integrated system?
Another resident, Bridget Walker, who has lived in Ewell Road for 38 years, said that increases in traffic in the area would only get worse if the developers’ scheme went ahead, and that tower residents would then start using spaces in the Sunray estate, which are already in short supply.
Alex Maguire, an energy expert called to give evidence by Kingston Council, said that back in 2015 the plans for converting Tolworth Tower from offices to housing spoke of using sustainable power via a heat pump. He said the current plan, to use gas, was “a missed opportunity” and “a fundamental failing” in the scheme.
Both he, and the council’s barrister, were furious that hundreds of pages of detailed evidence about energy use had been dumped on the inquiry at the last minute, giving the council no time to rebut it.
Kingston Council also claims that the developer is guilty of ‘double-counting’ in its statistics, to make the picture look rosier than it is.
The inquiry continues.
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F9 The Fast Saga
20th October 2021, 6:36 amI’m with you Alex Maguire!
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