Anger as RM accused of squeezing 700 homes onto MP site

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Residents' anger as Royal Mail accused of ‘squeezing 700 prison-like homes’ onto sprawling Mount Pleasant sorting office site

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AN ambitious plan to “squeeze” more than 700 homes onto the sprawling Mount Pleasant Sorting Office site in Clerkenwell faces a storm of protest from residents.

As part of its plans for privatisation, the Royal Mail hopes to build flats on 6.6 acres of the 12-acre site, once the largest sorting office in the world.

The site consists mainly of a large postal van park and semi-derelict offices close to the current sorting office. It is surrounded by Rosebery Avenue, Farringdon Road, Calthorpe Street and Pheonix Place.

The housing scheme is expected to earn Royal Mail an estimated £100m.

Planning applications are expected in March and work on the site – a former 19th century prison called Coldbath Fields – could begin as early as next year.

The Royal Mail’s current sorting operation will continue at Mount Pleasant, considerably scaled down due to new technology.

The Mount Pleasant Forum has been formed to study the impact of proposals for land that straddles the boroughs of Islington and Camden.

The forum held its first meeting last week when many residents felt that the scheme was “too high and too dense” with, according to some, “little in the way of redeeming architectural features”.

The scheme will include two tall buildings. One of between 12 and 15 storeys would be close to Phoenix Place and a group of Georgian homes. The other, a nine-storey building, would be the same height as the adjacent Holiday Inn hotel in Calthorpe Street.

Resident Frances Hanlon, a construction manager from Calthorpe Street, said: “The current high-density scheme reminds me of a prison, which, of course, was what the site once was.

“They are trying to squeeze too many homes into one space and we still don’t know how many flats will be affordable or socially rented. My own home will be overlooked by one tall building which is completely unnecessary.

“Many people in Camden would have liked a new secondary school on the site. But there’s no chance of that. A new school does not earn money for developers.”

Islington Lib Dem councillor George Allan, who represents Clerkenwell, said it was inevitable that some development would take place on the site.

“They have been talking about it for 20 years,” he said. “The issues are how dense and how high the development is. I’m keeping an eye on the scheme.

“One thing we do want out of it is a proper transport mitigation plan. The Royal Mail uses more than 300 diesel vans on the site. We want to see these vehicles convert to non-polluting fuels.”

Architect Edward Denisen, from Margery Street estate, who helped set up the forum, said the general feeling was that the scheme was being rushed through with little consideration for people who live nearby.

“We’ve had one meeting and the general feeling is that there has been very little consultation and that local residents are being presented with a fait accompli,” he said.

“For example, people want to know why high-rise buildings can’t be centered at the middle of the site so they don’t overlook nearby residents. We are not necessarily against a scheme per se but want something that blends in with the community rather than sticks out like a sore thumb.”

Vaughan Grylls, artist chairman of Wilmington Square Society, said his members would like to see the scheme scaled down.

“They are obviously trying to cram as many homes onto the site as they can,” he added. “But we would like to see a decent community space at the centre of the development. We’d also like compensation from the scheme to pay for much-needed improvements to our square.”

Islington’s Labour housing chief Councillor James Murray said: “We’ve made it clear that any scheme must have open space accessible to the public. And we want to make sure that as much of the housing as possible is affordable.”

Royal Mail spokeswoman Sally Hopkins said housing density was in line with the Mayor’s London Plan. “While the exact number of homes and the heights of individual buildings are still to be finalised, the application will include new homes, new office space, shops and other commercial space and significant new public open space,” she said.

Both councils would carry out a full consultation once the planning application was submitted, Ms Hopkins said. In the meantime, Royal Mail was continuing to meet residents and amenity groups.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Homes plans driven by Post Office need to deliver profit http://www.islingtontribune.com/letters ... ver-profit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Published: 25 January, 2013

• THE wastelands surrounding Mount Pleasant Post Office/Sorting Office are being redeveloped by Royal Mail.

The proposals are in the pre-planning concept stage. However, the Post Office, which “owns” the land, intends to apply for planning permission by Easter and seems confident it will obtain planning permission by July.

It intends to appoint a commercial developer partner by early autumn and have bulldozers on site by January 2014. That’s pretty fast going.

The development is fraught with politics. The Post Office needs to capitalise on its assets with all speed to show a good balance sheet for the government-directed Royal Mail sell-off later this year.

If the proposed plans are accepted, this will be the largest private housing development in the country, estimated value around £400m. Housing will be for 750 units, accommodating about 1,900 people on 4.8 hectares. This is very high density.

Camden and Islington councils want 50 per cent of the units as “affordable”, though informed betting says they’ll be lucky to get 20 per cent, in itself quite a shameful situation.

Local people are pleased the wasteland is being developed. They are not pleased by the concept designs, which are spectacularly unsuitable in a predominantly Georgian/Victorian neighbourhood. The architectural concept has linked itself stylistically to the Holiday Inn in Farringdon Road, a 1980s building once voted the “ugliest in London”.

There are problems with the height and massing of the buildings; demonstrable lack of knowledge about the neighbourhood; lack of light and amenity for existing residents; traffic flow dangers; and isolation of Sir Christopher Hatton primary school.

And, of course, the elephant in the room is “Why can’t the much-needed secondary school be built there?” (Answer: because the Post Office doesn’t want it – it doesn’t make it money.)

At a meeting of Mount Pleasant Forum on January 14, the Post Office representative made it clear that it does not intend to change the concept design. Its priority is speed of process and accrued profit.

It will be a frightful condemnation if our generation of Londoners allow a nondescript new town-type development to be rushed through in order to profit the Post Office.

We are going to have to rely on our councillors and public opinion to get the Post Office to accept that central London deserves buildings of merit – not an outdated, unsuitable planning model which would not really grace a roundabout in Milton Keynes.

Any person who feels strongly about good design, any organisation which has feelings for central London development, anyone with views about urban design, please look at the plans on the Amwell Society website – http://www.amwell.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Please let us know your views. Support local consultation.

Judy Dainton
Secretary, Calthorpe Street Residents’ Association

• IN many parts of the Mount Pleasant development – including Farringdon Road and Calthorpe Street – the scale of buildings proposed takes its precedent from the Post Office building and the Holiday Inn, indicating heights of eight to 10 storeys, which will tower over the neighbouring historic terraces, create “canyon” roads and deprive the neighbourhood of light.

Also, there is a serious lack of clarity about the amenities and “public” spaces. (It is unclear as to whether they will be truly public, given that the site will be in private hands.)

There is scant information as to how any “planning gain” money might be spent. I gather it might not even be spent on the site itself, in an area that lacks open space, recreational facilities and a secondary school.

Its major public space is referred to as a “central garden street” and has been compared in size to Oxford Street. In a development of this density, this is a serious lapse that runs against time-honoured civic principles and the advice of the Greater London Authority’s London Plan. It neglects residents’ needs – as well as the potential needs of the 2,500-odd new residents of the 750 proposed flats.

There is a need for a good development on this site. This isn’t it.

Oliver Bennett, Helen Healy
Farringdon Road, EC1
Chance to transform a grim plot of land

• WHEN a development as large as that planned for the Royal Mail site at Mount Pleasant is proposed it is almost inevitable that those who live in the immediate vicinity will have great concerns and anxieties.

However, the regeneration of what has become a very grim plot of land in central London should be welcomed, provided it is done with care and sensitivity to the surrounding area.

This should be an opportunity, not only to turn a mammoth car park into much-needed housing and a bit more usable open space, but to improve the surrounding streets, which sorely need some money spent on them.

This development should generate a significant amount of funding to spend on local infrastructure. Residents would expect this to be the case, and not to see their planning gain disappearing into projects at the other end of the borough.

DARIAN MITCHELL
Chair, Amwell Society

[Lounge Lizard]

NIMBYs.

[LinChong]

Royal Mail should hire the most controversial architect in the world to design the flats and then only sell them to the council on the condition they become council flats.

The planning authority should insist that the development includes an underground car park and shops that people want like kebab shops, fried chicken shops, fish and chip shops, pizza shops, pubs, bookies, corner shops and a 24 hour garage. There should also be an 18 hole crazy golf course.