Land on the corner of Wm Henry Walk – 2021/3125
Submission to Wandsworth Borough Council
Added on: 3 August 2021
The Battersea Society objects most strongly to this application.
As we stated in our letter of objection to 2021/0283:
“this land … was donated to the Council by Elm Quay Freehold’s predecessors. We assume this was to ensure that an attractive stretch of land, at the entrance to this section of the Thames Path riverside walk, remained available for public benefit rather than being a site for an obtrusive advertising hoarding [or other advertising] or a source of short term income for the Council.
The [original] planning application was objected to by the Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership, by TfL, the St. James Group, the Battersea Society and many others.”
It is true that much work is still underway within Nine Elms, principally to the south, but this plot of land viewed from the west is unspoilt (except by the advertising hoarding) and forms a pleasant entry to the Thames Path, again unspoilt in this stretch from Wm Henry Walk to Vauxhall.
The roadworks shown in the illustration below will soon be complete. The US Embassy is complete, with attractive landscaping facing the road. The Waitrose windows are thoughtfully designed, some way to the south and west of Wm Henry Walk and on the other side of the road. Advertising on the hoardings of construction sites such as in front of New Covent Garden Market are designed to be an attractive temporary addition to the streetscape or informative and are not comparable. Those developing the Battersea Power Station have at all stages sought to provide an attractive surround to the building and we are confident this will continue, in particular with the aim of providing an attractive public frontage along the river.
We cannot agree that criteria set out in Local Plan Policy DMS1c have been met. In particular it:
a. Is not physically integrated with its surroundings.
b. It detracts from rather than contributing to the local spatial character.
c. Fails to meet almost all of the criteria other than not vibrating, being noisy, adding to traffic or to air pollution.
j. The open space is alongside a well-lit road and there is no need for added illumination.
m. Is at best neutral in relation to health but is intrusive and unpleasing which is bad for mental health.
o. Is highly visually intrusive.
We were delighted that Wandsworth Council refused 2021/0283 and note that the applicant is causing the Council unnecessary expense through their appeal to this refusal. This further application merely compounds this nuisance and we trust the application will be withdrawn or, if not, that it will be refused.
