RECENT MEETINGS
SEPTEMBER 16TH 2009
FOCUS ON SURBITON meeting
A transient population ... too few family homes ... too many parked cars ... local apathy about the environment. These were just a few of the problems facing Surbiton listed by Jill Green, a member of the Conservation Area Advisory Committee for Surbiton, who was a guest speaker at our September meeting.
On the credit side Jill listed good shopping, good transport links and a magnificent riverside which rivals Richmond's in the extent of open land adjacent to the water. In a lively, interactive evening Jill put to the audience the challenges Surbiton faces in trying to conserve the good and combat the bad. The forum was timely, since Kingston Council's plan for a five year revamp for the centre of Surbiton had just been put out for consultation.
One of the success stories in Surbiton cited by Jill Green has been the enhancement of St Andrew's Square by restoring the lost railings. this Square, Jill claimed, is unique in our Borough and comparable to the grand squares of central London. the Clocktower has had its own restoration with a townscape award as has the front of the new Waitrose won plaudits.
Another success story was the saving of the Filter Beds from development, after a campaign in which Kingston Society stalwart Ken Peay played a major role. The future of the Beds is, however, still uncertain : though it is now protected as Metropolitan Open Land, there is still no funding to develop the site for recreational use.
Earlier the scene for Jill Green's talk had been set by local historian and tour guide John Pink. His command of the subject enabled him to rapidly summarise the salient facts about Surbiton, starting with the coming of the railway in 1838 and the growth of housing along and between its three major turnpike roads.
The choice of topic reflected our Chairman's concern that the Kingston Society should be seen to be representing the interests of the borough as a whole and not focussing too predominantly on central Kingston. New Malden, Chessington .... your turn will come!
GATEWAY TO KINGSTON
Our meeting in October heard John Miles, Chairman of Canadian and Portland Estates, present his proposals for redevelopment of the Bishop's Palace site on the riverside to the south of Kingston Bridge.
Mr Miles explained that his was a private company formed by three London families to invest in properties to keep. It was not their intention to develop and sell on. Their portfolio so far included a prestige property in Bond Street which was being upgraded to designs by Haworth Tompkins, the architects chosen for this scheme. On the Kingston scheme he had worked closely with Kingston Council who are anxious to impprove the river frontage. they wish the design to incorporate a "gateway" to the town as set out in the K+20 plan. The John Lewis building across the road has already set the scene for this ambition and Mr Miles was encouraged by RBK to complete the project.
The building as existing is one of the better post-war developments in Kingston but it suffers from the fact that the heavy red brickwork which faces the bridge and the river is without any relief and, apart from Frere Jaques restaurant at river level, there is no outlook from within the building complex to the outstanding views across the river towards Hampton Court.
This proposal leaves the existing structure virtually complete but opens the building up to provide extensive glazing to what is intended to be restaurants at several levels. When questioned Mr Miles assured the audience that this amount of additional restaurants was commercially viable. The ground level car park is to be removed at the insistence of the council and the current service yard replaced by a landscaped access to the riverside.
Another feature is the provision of an additional small floor to the roof to form a pavilion, part of the "gateway" requirement by the Council. the majority of the audience was fully in favour of the scheme, with the exception of the pavilion which was widely criticised, most vocally by George Rome Innes. He displayed photographs which he had taken crossing the bridge. On them he had drawn what he believed to be the effect of the pavilion at various points along the bridge obscuring the view of the parish church. He also maintained that the overall development was slightly higher than at present.
He spoke of returning home to find a cherished view obscured. John Miles challenged George's conclusions and promised to put him in touch with the architects in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
John Miles had a rough ride, which he handled with grace and humour, and he was warmly applauded at the end of the evening. How refreshing to meet a developer with such concern for good design and the
environment.
At the meeting on 17th March we heard of the proposed flood relief schemes between Maidenhead and Walton and between Walton and Teddington. We are giving the address custthse@environment-agency.gov.uk of the external relations team who deal with flooding enquiries from partners and members of the public.
FOCUS ON CHESSINGTON
If anyone came to our May meeting thinking that the finger shaped extension on Kingston's southern boundary contained nothing much except the road to Leatherhead, a couple of railway stations and the world of Advebtures, they were speedily shown otherwise by two speakers who brought concern and passion to their presentation. Exploring Chessington's past, town guide and local historian Sue Sabourin enthused about an area known to have been settled since the Iron age; the site of a villa, a tile works and possibly vineyards in Roman times; and recorded in the Domesday Book as possessing 'half a mill'. In medieval times much of its land belonged to Merton Priory, whose masters hunted there, and Merton College wtill has extensive landholdings.
Buildings from the 16th century survive but chessington's historic gem is St Mary's Church with its 800-year history. A surprise to many people used to simply rushing through Chessington and aware only of a long straggle of buildings along the Leatherhead Road may have been Sue Saborin's assertion that the parish is in fact two thirds rural. 'Lets keep it that way' she concluded.
Francis Brannan, secretary of Chessinton District Resident's Association was the evening's second speaker. He deplored the overdevelopment and 'garden grabbing', which is taking place to keep pace with targets for new housing. Mr Brannan instanced five projects which alone will provide 200 new bedrooms - and schemes like these had gone ahead despite vigorous opposition, supported by barristers in all day hearings. He has a poor view of planning authorities. 'They are letting property developers restructure our community, you can't disrupt a community like this and hope it will survive'. To halt this, the Residents' Association is pressing for Consevation Area status to be granted to three areas of Chessington valued for their pleasing mixture of 20th century architectural styles: these are Green Lane, Somerset Avenue and Elmcroft Drive.
New buildings in Chessington are not all bad news. Chessington Community College. whose architect Simon Tupper addressed the Kingston Society on 'The Role of the Architect' in April and to which the Society last year awarded a townscape award, has received a new accolade: the title of Community Benefits Building of the year for the London Area, awarded by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
This Chessington evening was one of Chairman Jennifer Butterworth's schedule of meetings planned to throw light on parts of the borough outside the town centre.