Well, given its August and it was raining, it was a very good turnout at the Alton Regeneration Watch meeting on Wednesday 19th August. There were about 30 attendees whom braved the awful weather to make their way there.
There were a lot of topics covered.
ARW Song
A member had contributed a song, that is, an ARW song. It was pretty good and a bit cheeky, you have to hear it. When it comes out make sure you give it a listen.
Logo
Members put forward logos for the ARW and they voted on a logo that was chosen. It is of Allbrook House and the library. It makes don’t you think? These buildings are the landmark buildings to the estate….
Listing
Well, the cat has been out of the bag for a little while on this. An update was given regarding the potential listing for Allbrook House and the library. There seems to have been a fair bit of effort in reaching to various organisations to see if they would offer comments in support of the listing.
Also, a brief history of the Putney Labour Party’s support for non-demolition was provided. These comments were;
| Taken from: Stuart King’s Putney Labour Roehampton redevelopment survey results 2008
Source: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=8D90ED9EB7AF0CB1!530&authkey=!AHiQ_N0N1DsCUg0&ithint=file%2cpdf
“The whole council plan rests on the demolition of Allbrook House, the “landmark” block above Roehampton Library. This is the one question where there was no majority opposition to the council plan, but a clear plurality – 45% – don’t want the block demolished. Barely a third – 34% – supported demolition and a sizeable number – 21% – didn’t feel able to give a view. We had 21 surveys back from the parts of Danebury Avenue, including Allbrook House, under threat of demolition. Of these, 4 supported demolition and 14 opposed it.
It’s a great shame that the Council never even considered improving Allbrook House, which contains some large properties within it with spectacular views of Roehampton. Recladding or even more radical remodelling of Allbrook House could transform this block – the gateway to the Alton estate”. |
| Then in 2010, when there was the review to see whether the centre of the Alton Estate should become a part of the conservation area. Taken from Appendix 2 of the Council Paper No.10-876 (and from a current Councillor no less);
Source: https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/documents/s12299/10-876%20-%20Conservation%20Area%20Report%20Appendix%202%20Consultation%20comments.pdf
“Comment from Councillor Carpenter:
a) Recommends redrawing the boundary of the CA to include Harbidge Ave, Allbrook House, Roehampton Library and the green in Alton West; and the Cornerstone and low odd numbered buildings on Alton Road in Alton East for their architectural interest.
c ) It was clear from the meeting that there is general opposition to plans for demolition of the eastern end of Danebury Ave. It should be remembered that there were earlier plans for a more sensitive refurbishment of the area which had greater support from residents”. |
What was interesting was that one attendees commented that people had been seen to be out and around Allbrook House measuring the area. Hmmm….could that because developers have their eye on this site already?
Manifesto
This was the aggregation of the various topics discussed at the last meeting in the group activity. It generated further discussion and one (very) hot topic is maintenance. This comes up at each meeting. It’s an emotive topic that residents care about and feel that they are being ignored.
A different regeneration suggestion was offered
A local resident provided background on past plans which were involving Allbrook House and the library. These plans were drawn up by the resident and were to do with an open spaces competition some years back. It was quite educational and also offered a different option were ‘refurbishment’ over ‘demolition’ may be possible.
Roehampton Festival
There was a section on the ARW attending the Festival. If you pop down to the Festival in Sunday, do say ‘hi’ to the team.
Next stage of the regeneration
A question was asked about what was next stage regarding the regeneration.
What is understood is the following (however, for the avoidance of doubt, you should check with Team Roehampton just in case something has been missed or misunderstood);
> 15th September – the Supplementary Planning Document which was recently consulted on will be put forward to the Council for signing off and a week before this meeting the documents become available
> 22nd September – the Community Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday, 22nd September, 2015 at 7.30 p.m. will review, and sanction(?) the SPD
At the meeting of the 22nd September if there are any challenges then our ward Councillors (none of which are on this Committee) will need to raise our concerns. The ARW has already asked the Councillors whether they will be available for this meeting and await feedback.
The Committee members are;
- Councillor Fleur Anderson (Opposition Speaker)
- Councillor Kim Caddy (Chairman)
- Councillor Ian Hart
- Councillor Candida Jones
- Councillor Charles Lescott
- Councillor Rory O’Broin
- Councillor Wendy Speck
- Councillor Rachael Stokes
- Councillor Mrs. Tessa Strickland
- Councillor Ms Rosemary Torrington (Deputy Chairman)
- Councillor Mrs. Caroline Usher
- Councillor Terence Walsh
Source: https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=574
All in all, it seems a busy month and a half ahead for the team at ARW.
Contact
Email us at – roeregeneration@yahoo.com – and let us know of any concerns/thoughts you may have or add a comment at the end of the blog entry in the ‘Leave a Reply’ section.
Or email your Roehampton and Putney Heath Councillors at;
Peter Carpenter – pcarpenter@wandsworth.gov.uk
Jeremy Ambache – JAmbache@wandsworth.gov.uk
Sue McKinney – SMcKinney@wandsworth.gov.uk
Or email the Wandsworth Council team managing the ‘regeneration’
Team Roehampton – Roehampton@wandsworth.gov.uk
