Rugby World Cup 2015

The application for the Fanzone temporary construction beside the Polls on the Park is now in and a very large undertaking it is.

Having regard to the some 15,000 visitors which the Fanzone is anticipated to receive, at any one time, we have been taking considerable interest in the conditions relating to the dismantling of those structures and the restoration of the land taken by the site, both as to timetable and landscaping.

The wear on this part of the Old Deer Park cannot but be massive given the timetable and numbers and it is instructive to note that, as yet no operator has been contracted to manage the site.

Deer Park School, London House

The speed and size of demographic growth in the school age population appears to have taken forecasters by surprise. The result has been a rush to provide much needed scholastic space in a borough not known for either the availability of large, compatible sites nor for their cheapness.

The current proposal, on the Red Route of the A316, has brought vociferous opposition not only from immediate neighbours but also from residents of East Twickenham where, it is felt, the demand truly lies

We await submission of the planning application before commenting on this proposal.

Contemporary Architecture

The Development Management Plan of 2011 introduced a demand for future projects to fit in with the architecture of their surroundings. The phraseology was that they should “take architectural clues” from neighbouring buildings.

Whilst we have no hesitation in agreeing that such a policy has its merits, and indeed we have given a Brass Plaque Award, under the annual awards scheme, to property in Montague Road which admirably fits just that criterion, we feel that the policy has been too narrowly defined and the result has been an almost complete exclusion of consents being issued for contemporary architecture.

Our reasoning is that the quality of build is as important as that of design and that when the two are combined then contemporary styles have a significant place in the townscape which, if excluded, serve to impoverish the legacy which current policy will leave to future generations and we have made vigourous representations to the council to that effect.