News
For more local news, see
the current issue of Prospect,
which is delivered free to all BCA members.
Barnes under threat?
Large areas behind our High Street and elsewhere are facing development plans which could well change the face of our village in a way for which we are not fully prepared. For more information please click HERE
Retail champion for Barnes
We have sounded sounded a ‘wake-up’ call on the Barnes under Threat page and in the March issue of Prospect, calling on residents to be aware of future development plans for the High Street, and for the threat posed to the small shops which are so important to Barnes. The recent closure of the Terrace for five weeks was an additional problem that decimated High Street footfall. The BCA has now decided that, working as we do with our local Councillors and with Council planners, and through our increasingly influential Environment Group, we should more positively nail our colours to the mast on behalf of all local retailers, not only those on the High Street. In short, we wish to appoint a retail champion for Barnes, at least part-funded by the BCA, who will have a wide-ranging mandate, acting primarily as a link between retailers, the Council planners and developers.
The main aims of the retail champion would be: the establishment of a better trading environment for small shops, improvement of the retail mix to meet local consumer needs, and improvement in communication with the Council on fiscal difficulties (rates, etc.) that small shops face. There is much more, of course, and we do not for a moment believe this is going to be an easy job. An acceptable candidate would probably live locally, have good lobbying skills, would establish a rapport with all the retailers, and would have a good working knowledge of retail issues. Later, there will be a more formal process prior to either a full or part-time appointment – not least on the matter of salary and matched funding – but anyone who might have an interest in this should make themselves known to Julia in the BCA office..
David Stott, BCA Chairman
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Environment Group Report
Hammersmith Bus Station
I have not been able to organise a public meeting with TFL. It is proving
so difficult to find anyone who is actually responsible for the Bus Station!
Barnes Vision
There is still no news whether LBRuT will adopt the Barnes Vision proposal.
Towpath Management
This winter the PLA will be clearing trees from the revetments banks on
both sides of the river, and the Environment Group has contributed to
the Wooded Towpath Audit. As everybody who enjoys the towpath knows, the
Wooded Towpath is very important.
As part of the Proposed Management Plan for Thames Strategy Kew to Chelsea, assistance of various independent tree specialists also contributed to the Wooded Towpath Audit. They are at present compiling a broad-ranging survey of the wooded vegetation that occurs on either side of the towpath from Putney through Barnes on to Kew. A large and nationally significant population of Black Poplars (Populus nigra var.betulifolia) has been found. In total there are 43 trees, of which 21 are female. This is significant because there are estimated to be around only 7,000 trees left in the UK, of which some 600 are female. To have a large population in one small area, with such a large proportion of female trees, is very rare indeed. Most of the trees are growing at the top of the revetment and there are others on the landward side of the walking path. Individual trees are now being mapped using a global positioning system (GPS) and satellite imagery. Maps will be available shortly. Nationally there are forty-three biodiversity action plans for the Black Poplar and on the basis of new discoveries, this species will feature in the next version of the Biodiversity Action Plan for Richmond.
The Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and field maple (Acer campestre) are rare in the borough and throughout greater London and the SE in general. Its preservation is important. On the Wooded Towpath, Field Maples are located on the river side of the path, directly above the revetment, mostly on flat ground in earth (NOT out of the revetment itself or the path). Field Maple and Ash-field Maple will be part of the Towpath Maintenance Plan and care should be taken during the revetment clearances. It is easy to confuse the field maple, a native tree, with Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) an aggressive, introduced species.
The above, taken from a very detailed report, will be of interest everybody who enjoys the Wooded Towpath.
Susan Boyd, Chairman
Barn Elms update
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Barnes Vision estimates that this sum will be enough to pay for huge improvements at Barn Elms, including two new pavilions and a MUGA (multi-use games area). However, the Council still insists the total cost will be closer to £4 million, while steadfastly refusing to provide a cost breakdown. On 22nd September the Cabinet will meet to decide whether to adopt the Barnes Vision proposal. Pat Newton, Chair of the campaign group, said she felt the Council was being “more co-operative than we have experienced in the past”. But there is still a risk the Council will dispose of the land.
For further details visit the group’s website www.savebarnelms.mfbiz.com.
Lisa Reed
Planning St Paul's
As you may know, St. Paul’s School has a long-term plan to improve its facilities, replacing a number of its ugly ‘Clasp’ buildings, building new, and making more of a public statement both with the entrance to Lonsdale Road and towards the river.
There is general goodwill to the school and its plans, but we know the details must be got right. In particular, the proposed building of staff accommodation on the site of the current car park aroused bitter opposition from residents of Lillian Road first time round.
With a new planning application, have they now got it right? See for yourself: the reference number is 08/1760/OUT and can be seen on the Council's website and at Castelnau Library.
Backland, brownfield planning sites
Click HERE for a map of brownfield sites
New plans for the old KJ Garage site in the High Street
56-58 Barnes High St, SW13 9LF
Ref: 08/1021/FUL
More than two years ago a planning application was made for nineteen residential flats as well as office space on the old KJ Garage site, a potential overdevelopment which caused great concern and opposition. Briefly, as proposed,
- it would have been overbearing in bulk and height to neighbouring homes
- it would have established a precedent that new buildings could take Seaforth Lodge rather than nearby Edwardian terraces as their reference.
It was also feared that a scheme of this size could only make sense if a totally new access was broken through into Lyric Road – see below*.
Happily, the Council saw eye to eye with local residents and refused the application. The applicants then appealed to the Planning Inspectorate but the Inspector also refused permission. Most importantly this decision established that the height and bulk of Seaforth Lodge could not be mirrored in a new development, even on a backland site.
This Spring a new application was made for office use on the ground floor and just seven flats, five of them one-bedroom only, above (more light). This scheme requires less height, less coverage of the site and enables the developer, Fontayne Investments Ltd, to make a feature of an historic wall which once formed the boundary to the old St. Anne’s House.
It will be a ‘car-free’ development: there will be parking for fourteen bicycles but nothing for cars. This means that residents will specifically be barred from buying parking permits in our, already full, Barnes streets. The theory, which is shared by Kensington and Chelsea Council, is that people who buy property on the site will only be those who are happy to rely on good public transport.
*And the fears of a radically new access from the residential streets? It will not make any financial sense now. It does say on the application form: ‘Is a new or altered vehicle access proposed to and from the public highway? No. Is a new or altered pedestrian access proposed to and from the public highway? No.’
28-29 Barnes High Street
Application Ref: 08/0262/FUL
Proposal:
Demolition of Rear Extension to Claridge House [and of] Garages
Construction New Retail Unit
Ground Floor and First Floor Extension to Public House
First Floor and Second Floor Offices (two units)
First Floor and Second Floor Residences (two units)
The frontage of this site is bounded by the Coach and Horses pub at one end and Claridge House offices at the other, with the near-derelict garages between.
Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP) owns the garages and plans to put the proceeds of selling these towards affordable housing elsewhere in the borough. The Coach and Horses plan improved facilities for customers and staff, with no demolition of the existing pub building. Claridge House would be refurbished for office use but the undistinguished office building behind would be pulled down and replaced by residential units. Two shop units would be built slightly back from the High Street building line on the current garages site.
Although the formal proposal as quoted above mentions two residential units, in fact four ‘patio houses’ would be built around a little raised courtyard. A loading bay would be provided for commercial use, but no car parking.
The applicants have cut down the previous number of housing units at the request of Council officers. They argue that the new development honours the scale of what they describe as this ‘small but significant local town centre’. And they promise that the High Street will be ‘revitalised’.
To view the design and the acres of paperwork which form this application, go to www.richmond.gov.uk and type in the above reference number on the home page.
Katie Gent
Caring for the Pond
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Please can we remind you NOT to move frogs or spawn in or out of Barnes Pond. There is a virulent frog disease called Red Leg Disease which may be carried when material like this is moved from A to B.
Some people in Barnes like to 'improve' the Pond, its water, its wildlife or its marginal planting. But, whatever the goodwill, in fact this may have a seriously detrimental effect on the developing ecology we have set up. We therefore ask you not to introduce any other organisms, such as goldfish or pond plants.
Russell Greaves, Barnes Commonkeeper
Dogwatch
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The idea behind Dogwatch is to enlist the help of those who use the Common on a regular basis. You will be provided with a small card on which you will find useful telephone numbers so that you can contact the police or the graffiti clean-up team, report broken street lights or fly tipping, and find information on what to do should you lose your dog. The card should fit into your pocket so, when you see something amiss, the numbers you need to report it are at your fingertips.
Please do join in. Dogwatch is a Neighbourhood Watch for the Common, and will help make this lovely place safer for all its users. Similar schemes are already in operation in other parts of London and are proving very successful.
For further information and to register please contact the Safer Neighbourhood Team at mortlake.barnescommon.snt@met.police.uk or call 8721 2007. The team is also planning fortnightly 'on the ground' recruitment days, so look out for them and it is hoped to launch the scheme along the towpath.
Polythene recycling
Did you know that you can recycle polythene wrappers and bags? Any wrapper - clear, coloured or printed - with an HDPE 2 or LDPE 4 mark on it can be recycled. These include most plastic wrappers for magazines and much of fruit and vegetable packing. If there is no PE mark on the polythene, you can judge its suitability for recycling by trying to tear it: if it tears cleanly, it is not suitable, but if it stretches, it is. Cellophane, PVC and polypropylene, which are clear in appearance and rustle when scrunched up, are not suitable. Also unsuitable is any supermarket carrier bag that is marked 'degradable' because this apparently contaminates polythene recycling. Carrier bags should be reused or taken back to the supermarket for recycling.
For polythene recycling, please remove all paper labels, sticky tape, food remnants and foreign objects. Collect these bags in a container until you have around a kilo, because it is most economical to send it by post when it is just under this weight. You can then pack it in a large polythene bag and mail it (marked 'Recycling' and with a label of the sender's address) to Polyprint Mailing Films Ltd, Mackintosh Road, Rackheath Industrial Estate, Rackheath, Norwich NR13 6LJ.
Second-class postage for a packet up to a kilo is £2.12. A typical household is likely to accumulate a kilo of polythene in two to three months; this postage is a small price to pay to ensure that this waste does not go to landfill but is instead made into something useful.
For further information see www.polyprint.co.uk/recycling.html or ring 01603 721 807.
Sriram Chari