Canbury And Riverside Association

Many people will have received a letter from Roy Thompson at RBK concerning the revised planning application made by NHP for the erection of:

(a) A part 7 / part 7 / part 8 storey building on the east side of site around the EDF substation (on Skerne Road) for a 180 bedroom hotel (with conference, banqueting & meeting facilities) and 121 flats; and (b) 2 blocks (part 6 / part 8 and and part 9 / part 11 storey) providing 235 flats on the west part of the site (the Riverside); together with parking and amenity space on the site of the old Kingston Power Station, Skerne Road, Kingston-upon-Thames.

These latest proposals are different from those previously refused permission in October 2007 (06/12424/FUL) in the following respects:

The Riverside proposals:

have been entirely redesigned
there would be two blocks arranged around a central courtyard
the overall height of the proposals has been drastically reduced
there would be 13 more flats in this part of the site
vehicular access to the site remains off Henry MacCauley Avenue but the entrance to the underground parking has been relocated further south within the site.

The Skerne Road proposals:

there are detailed changes to the external appearance and its scale and mass
the proposed hotel has been increased from 150 to 180 bedrooms
the proposed flats have been redesigned internally, some are enlarged and thus there would be 27 fewer flats in this block.

You can see a copy of the application at:

The Environmental Services Help Desk, 2nd Floor, Guildhall 2 between 8.45am and 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8.45am to 4.45pm on Fridays.
Kingston Library during normal opening hours.

You can also view applications on the Council's website at www.kingston.gov.uk

After a huge amount of debate the CARA Committee is broadly supportive of these new proposals as we wish to see improvements to this long neglected but strategically important site for the town centre, creating a solution of which everyone can be proud of.

We would also encourage all interested parties to comment on this application (both those who are 'for' and those 'against'). In fact the Council welcomes relevant comment as part of the consideration of the application. Please write, e-mail (including your name and address) to dc@rbk.kingston.gov.uk, or comment directly at www.kingston.gov.uk by 21st April 2008, quoting the reference number 08/12146.

Presumably this will be reviewed at the Development Control Committee scheduled for Thursday 5th June 2008 at 7.30pm at the Guildhall.