Regal House hotel and tall buildings in the Borough: Cllr Martin Elengorn sets the record straight - again!

1.56.19pm BST (GMT +0100) Sat 13th Jun 2009

Regal House - built long, long ago when the Tories were running the borough!

• CLLR Martin Elengorn, Assistant Cabinet Member (Planning and Environment) writes: Cllr Nicholas True [Conservative Leader of the Opposition] continues to misrepresent the Council's policy on tall buildings.

Far from encouraging out-of-character tall buildings the Council now probably has the most restrictive policy towards tall buildings of any London borough. Cllr True alleges that the Council teamed up with the Government to scrap the Tories' 2005 UDP policy on tall buildings. This was pretty anodyne anyway viz. "Buildings which are higher than the general height of surrounding buildings will not normally be permitted" and would probably not have been at odds with the Regal House hotel application (see below). However the fact is that the Secretary of State deleted it from the 2005 UDP in 2008 against the Council's express wish to retain it..

This arose because after 3 years our 2005 UDP policies could only be "saved" (pending our new Local Development Framework) if the Government permitted this. The Secretary of State permitted most 2005 policies to be saved in this way but, against the Council's wishes, deleted the tall buildings policy on the grounds that it was in conflict with more recent Government guidance and the Mayor's February 2008 London Plan.

The advice from English Heritage and others was that the Council could only restore a restrictive policy towards tall buildings in the new Local Development Framework by commissioning a special study to provide firm objective evidence to demonstrate the general unsuitability of the borough for tall buildings. The discarded 2005 policy, which merely asserted without evidence a general lack of suitability for tall buildings, would not have withstood challenge. The study by Turley Associates on the other hand by careful townscape analysis demonstrated that only two locations in the borough were generally suitable for tall buildings (i) Richmond station and (ii) Twickenham station and nearby sites. All other parts of the borough were judged to be, prima facie, unsuitable for taller buildings.

Although detailed Local Development framework policies will not be in place until 2010 or 2011 the Core Strategy was adopted in April 2009. The independent Inspector commended the Council's policies and rejected the many representations from the local Tories. The relevant paragraphs of the Core Strategy read:

• 8.2.1.5 Large parts of the Borough are sensitive to the impact of taller buildings by virtue of the high environmental quality that currently exists, with heritage and open space constraints and their lower density character and development patterns. However it is recognised that in some instances density can be increased, making better use of land without the need for taller buildings, through good design, layout and mix of uses. In general, a tall building is defined by CABE and English Heritage as one that is substantially taller than its neighbours or significantly changes the skyline. In this Borough, large scale development is defined as buildings of generally 6 or more storeys in height. A study by Turley Associates has identified those areas most suitable within the borough for higher densities and tall buildings by mapping various constraints and accessibility levels. This will be used as local guidance when determining applications.

• 8.2.1.6 In general, an appropriate mix of uses and higher densities of housing will be encouraged within the Borough's five town centres as these are accessible by public transport, and occupiers of new development could benefit from a range of shops and services within easy walking distance. It is recognised that the potential for higher densities is likely to be within the central areas of these towns rather than within adjoining residential areas. Higher densities will have to be compatible with local character and townscape, preserve the setting of listed buildings and areas of recognised quality and not adversely impact on residential amenity either within or outside the town centres. In addition, taller buildings may be suitable in Richmond and Twickenham town centres close to the stations, rather than other town centres, if car travel can be minimised and townscape setting left unharmed. All such proposals will require full design justification based on a comprehensive townscape appraisal and the use of 3D modelling images, and be assessed using the criteria for evaluation identified by CABE and English Heritage in 'Guidance on Tall Buildings' and local guidance.

These evidence-based paragraphs provide much greater protection for our environment than the anodyne sentence from 2005 quoted above. It is therefore nonsense to allege that Richmond is threatened by "many more" taller buildings or "a cluster of skyscrapers" under a Lib Dem Council. On the contrary nearly every tall building in the borough was erected in the 1960s and 1970s by Conservative Councils; two were even named after Conservative Councillors! We are determined to preserve the character of the borough and the Tories are insulting the public's intelligence by pretending otherwise. We have no desire to emulate Croydon or Kingston.

As regards the Planning Committee's decision on 11th June to refuse the Travel Lodge application for a 111-bed hotel between Regal House and the railway - reducing from 10 storeys on London Road to 5 storeys and then 3 storeys - this was UNANIMOUS and followed representations from residents, David Trigg and 2 Tory Councillors. The reasons for refusal proposed by John Coombs and James Mumford and agreed by both Lib Dem and Tory Councillors on the Planning Committee did NOT relate to the proposed hotel use, nor to the car-free nature of the proposal, nor, in principle, to the height of the building. There were two grounds for refusal:

(i) the unsatisfactory design of the side of the new building facing the railway which, it was felt, did not satisfactorily make the transition between the full height of the building on London Road and the modest scale of Mary's Terrace nor enhance the setting of the Buildings of Townscape Merit in Mary's Terrace; and

(ii) the impact of the new building on the amenities of residents in Mary's Terrace and Cheltenham Avenue.

Related Links:

• Officer's report on planning application 08/3063/FUL: Regal House 70 London Road Twickenham

• Planning Application 08/3063/FUL