Regeneration Plans for Twickenham Riverside Get the Green Light

11.11.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 1st May 2009

• Cllr Denise Carr writes: THE Liberal Democrat Council has agreed the Countryside scheme for the old baths site on Twickenham Embankment.

The scheme includes an iconic River Centre, with a boathouse, café, public toilets, and community facilities offering a range of education and leisure opportunities for all ages. There will be a river-themed children's playground overlooked by the café. For the first time in nearly 30 years, there will be attractive public open space, including a swathe of green running up and over the River Centre and offering good views of the river and the busy working riverside at the heart of the town. And there will be dedicated space for craft markets and other community events, created by the removal of some of the car parking on the riverfront to the rear of the site.

Following extensive public consultation and a competitive tendering process, the Council has selected the scheme submitted by award-winning Countryside Properties and local Eel Pie Island architect Clive Chapman. Priority is given to pedestrian use and green landscaping, with no loss of parking; public open space is maximised; and the River Centre will be an exemplar of sustainable development, relating both to the river and climate change issues. A mix of 32 houses and flats at the rear and the Wharf Lane end of the site will build in safety and deliver the public gain of over £4 mn, including the shell of the River Centre, public open space and improvements to the Embankment frontage, at no additional cost to the Council Tax payer.

This is an investment in the future of the town centre. With the growing number of empty shops and offices threatening to drain the lifeblood out of the town, this new development shows the commitment of the Liberal Democrats and the residents to revitalise the town. Local environmental charity, the Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames, headed by Sir David Attenborough, will be running the River Centre - a free, fun and informative community building with activities for all, it will be a beacon of sustainability and help everyone to understand and enjoy the river.

Contracts are expected to be signed by June and the developer will be lodging a planning application in the Autumn.

• HISTORY of the Site: J M Lee's 'The Making of Modern Twickenham' [Historical Publications, 2005; in the public library] describes [pp. 72-75] how the then Municipal Council came to buy both Richmond and York Houses in 1922-4 'for the construction of public buildings'. Debate about the future of these sites and their neighbours Orleans House, Poulett House [replaced by the Thames Eyot block of flats], Radnor House [acquired by the Council & destroyed by enemy action in 1940] and the Bates market garden in Cross Deep [sold for housing in 1926] had by then being going on for 25 years. A lido [an open air swimming pool] was built on the Richmond House site in 1935 and closed in 1981, since when most of the site has lain derelict. York House became the Town Hall in 1926.

Related Links:

• Statement by Cllr Serge Lourie, Leader, at the meeting of the Council on 20 October 2009

• Giving the lie to Tory and RUG lies about the Riverside [23rd Oct]

• Video of the architect's 3D visualisation of proposed scheme

• Clive Chapman Architects, the architects for the chosen scheme

• Countryside Properties

• The Twickenham Riverside Site - Results of the Procurement Process [Cabinet Paper, Apr 27]

• Links to other documents for Cabinet meeting, Apr 27 2009

• Environment Trust For Richmond Upon Thames Newsletter, Spring 2009

• What is the River Centre? What will it offer?