Read the objections lodged by local residents to the proposed seven floor luxury flat complex that our Council wants property developers Orion to build on top of our Market. Many of these objections, including the likely increase of anti social behaviour, the build up of traffic and parking plus the impact on the Market itself, were made verbally at this meeting.
At that meeting Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh made a promise to block the project if traders operating out of the historic terrace on Goldhawk Road didn't want to be knocked down to make way for a third entrance. He has quietly forgotten that promise, it seems, and the developers are pressing on with what I understand to be much behind-the-scenes encouragement.
Reading this document, which I publish in full below, you can see both the anger and sense of helplessness on the part of residents and traders alike. But money talks, and it talks very loudly indeed.
S-Bush Mket Objection - Oct 2011
I have much sympathy for nearby residents but I would urge them not to think too negatively about the plans. I am not a business person & live near the police station.
ReplyDelete1) Residents' interests are not served by linking legitimate residential objections with those of shopkeepers in Goldhawk Rd. These are two different debates & residents risk alienating support by involving the shopkeepers. These shops have been an eyesore for decades. The pie shop is one thing, but the 'fabric' shops do not endear themselves to locals. They are scruffy at best, dilapidated at worst & are seemingly owned by people who live elsewhere who have shown little interest in caring for them in the past, making their community concerns look bogus. Shopkeepers are interested in maintaining the status-quo for their pocket-books & that is not in the wider community interest. Claiming 'local heritage' for foreign fabric is not going to carry much weight.
2) Parking issues ARE a concern for residents at the moment. You would have huge support from all residents in the market locality if you campaigned on this & a simple solution (eg residents' parking 24/7) would solve this problem for us. A large petition linked with your parking objections could not be ignored.
3) Noise & nuisance. Again, this is already an issue for many people, but much of it is caused in my area by young people from overseas renting while on working holidays & by thoughtless business owners. Properly designed, the new development can reduce this noise & nuisance, so blanket objections on this count will not work. You must petition separately on noise & nuisance to influence the DESIGN of the development or you will be turned down outright.
Please bare in mind that you have sympathy locally with parking, design, noise, etc. But a simple flat, blanket objection will not work at all because the overwhelming community desire is to see the market up-graded & better quality buildings & business built.