REJECT THE COUNCIL'S CARRY ON CAR PARKING PROPOSAL because it:

● Fails to remove cars from the riverside, and relocate them underground (as previously promised)

● Fails to pedestrianise the riverfront (as previously promised)

● Adds another 35 car parking spaces for new flats

● Directs all service vehicles along the Embankment because of service road closure

● Fails to improve Air Quality. The Air Quality Action Plan calls for reduction in car use/parking

● Fails to provide a town square large enough for farmers markets and a seasonal ice rink

● Fails to provide boathouses for riverside activities

● Fails to consider the whole site, by excluding the riverside roads/parking and all of Diamond Jubilee Gardens

● Grossly over-develops the remaining small site down the side of Water Lane

● Fails to provide any attractions that will draw residents and visitors to the riverside and town centre

● Fails to deliver a Riverside Park

This is the final reminder that the Council’s consultation on the riverside development closes on Monday 30 October.

What Can You Do?

1. Have Your Say in the Council’s consultation survey. It’s quick and easy and you can tell them exactly what you think and what you want in the general comments box (Q10 online).Please encourage others to do the same. The last day of the consultation is Monday 30 October.
https://www.richmond.gov.uk/twickenham_rediscovered

2. If you’d like to see the Council’s proposal in the flesh and speak to councillors and officers about it, you have TWO chances:

● at Clarendon Hall on Thursday 26 October from 6-8.30pm...
● Monday 30 October from 3.15-8pm in the Winter Gardens at York House

3. Add a Comment on our petition. We love reading these as they give us, and the Council, a very clear insight into what you like/dislike about the proposals and what else you would like to see.
http://bit.ly/2vTZbSp

4. Share our petition with your contacts. When we get to 1,500 supporters an automatic notification will be sent to the Leader of the Council.

Additional information about our concept

We have been asked a number of questions about the concept we are proposing. We hope the responses below answer any concerns you may have. But do respond to this e-mail if you have anything further you’d like clarified.
 

Car Park
Taking a full site approach and relocating ALL the riverside parking underground facilitates the creation of the large town square and riverside park. The car park will take all 80 parking spaces from the Embankment, Water lane and Wharf Lane. Additional spaces will be available for new and existing businesses. Entry and exit will be under the new buildings at the top of Water and Wharf Lanes, thus protecting the car park from flooding and keeping most vehicles away from the riverfront. The loading bays will remain by the Eel Pie Island bridge, and vehicles will still be able to surface park along the East side of the Embankment.

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Viability
Carving up the site and taking a piecemeal approach to its development results in a sub-optimal solution. This is obvious in the Council's latest proposal in which Diamond Jubilee Gardens and the Embankment road/car park remain unchanged, resulting in the narrow strip down down Water Lane being grossly over-developed.

This piecemeal approach impacts viability. The Council have admitted they will not achieve their stated 'nil-cost' aim, even with their big blocks of flats. 

Alternatively, by using the whole site and building down both sides it is possible to have more buildings, but to build them much more sympathetically, with lower heights and much reduced impact on the local environment. Indeed they must be designed to complement the local area, rather than clash with it. 

The additional buildings will pay for the extra underground car park spaces.

Cycling
There will be a cycle track down Wharf Lane and along the Embankment. We recognise the importance of cycle parking in a car-free scheme and will work with the Richmond Cycling Group to ensure this meets cyclists' growing needs. Water Lane will have two way access to King Street and Church Street, thus improving connectivity between the riverside route and the town centre.

Lido
Many people have expressed an interest in a lido. Having visited the Bristol Lido, we can see the attraction. We are currently working on a lido concept, which we believe could possibly work well alongside the town square and riverside park.
 
Purchase of King Street Parade
Whilst of course we do not know what the new owners of King Street will do in the future, neither do others. Our view is that it is perfectly feasible that at some point in the future, they may wish to benefit from the rear of the site, in which case a town square, rather than a hammerhead service road, would be a far preferable outlook. Neither do we know that they would remove a retail premises for an archway from King Street, but it could be an attractive option for them to consider an arcade from King Street, which is closed off if an imaginative, long-term solution to the site is not considered at this stage. We simply feel that it is worthwhile planning for the long term, rather than for example the Council’s approach in saying that parking could be looked at once a large-scale development has already been put in place.

The Council has planning powers and influence and one of their priorities should be working with the King Street Portfolio holders on a joint plan to release value from the site and gains for the community, This should be seen as a massive opportunity to take an holistic, long-term approach to this site.

Twickenham Riverside Park Team

25 October 2017