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TWICKENHAM POOLSITE HISTORY, 2007 For the story of the pool's closure in 1980 and attempts to develop it until the end of 2001, see the 1980-2001 page. See the 2002 page, the 2003 page, the 2004 page, the 2005 page and the 2006 page for those years. See the Home Page for events in late 2007 and 2008. 21 Oct 2007 - Report on Twickenham Riverside Consultation, 15 Oct Over 100 people attended the afternoon meeting at Twickenham Rugby Ground on 15 Oct. It began with a briefing by Anthony Benson, Urban Practitioners, on their projected schemes for the poolsite, with one set of plans for possible traffic flows, parking and access, and a second set for the format the development on the poolsite could take. Part of each development is the River Centre, which includes a café/restaurant and public toilets, and Angela Kidner, Clive Chapman and Joe Pecorelli described what the Centre will be like, and what it will provide. (For more information, please see the Environment Trust's website.) It is hoped that the play area will be relocated so it's close to the River Centre café.Some enabling development will be required, and five different schemes were presented, showing houses, flats, or a mix of houses and flats, plus restaurants in some versions. There was no background or explanatory material, and the ten options - five for traffic and access, and five for the development - were sufficiently complex to require some study. However, the participants in the workshop, divided into groups, had only an hour to consider and comment on them. At the end, each group delivered its verdict. The results will be fed into the process of producing the draft development brief. Of the options for the enabling development, 9 of the 10 groups preferred to have a small number of townhouses (probably 14 or 15), a maximum amount of public open space, and no restaurants except for the one in the River Centre. (Note: no option was given to chose 'None' or 'Just open space'.) On the traffic side, most groups preferred to have parking removed from the Embankment and placed at the back of the poolsite, along the service road. Several tables suggested an alternative route to be created, by putting a road from the corner of Water Lane and the Embankment, to run at an angle across the site and connect with the service road. This would cut down on the amount of traffic needing to go onto the Embankment and it would avoid going onto the costly private land behind the Abbey building society. There was a great deal of concern, particularly among people who live in the area or whose businesses and livelihoods would be affected, at:
We understand that there will be an evening briefing meeting in the near future, for those who could not attend in the daytime, but it will not be a consultation. Council Press Release: Twickenham Riverside consultation hailed a success. Twickenham Society Group's Recommendations for the Poolsite Development Brief - background and briefing on traffic, parking, and difficult areas. .pdf, 7 pages, 90KB. 21 Sept 2007 - Council's Finance and Strategy Overview and Scrutiny Committee to discuss next stages for the Riverside on Thursday 27 Sept at 7.00 pm
The meeting at York House will discuss the site and possible proposals for it. Urban Practitioners, who have been charged with writing the development brief for the poolsite, will give a presentation, and a model will be on display at York House from 6.00 pm onwards. 29 June 2007 - Poolsite Development Brief The team has been chosen to write the development brief for the poolsite. This brief should be completed in time for the Council Cabinet meeting in December (not September, as originally planned). When it's approved it will then be put out for developers to come forth with their proposals.
27 March 2007 - Notes on Council Cabinet Meeting 12 Mar, on the River Centre In the meeting on 12 May, the Cabinet decided to proceed with plans to build the River Centre as part of the new scheme for the Twickenham Riverside. The base building cost of the River Centre will be funded through money generated by the commercial and residential elements of the wider scheme for the riverside site. This will leave the Trust able to concentrate on finding funds for the fitting out of the Centre and for operational costs.At the same time, it was agreed to engage consultants to draw up the development brief for the site, working with Council officers, at a cost of £137,000, already agreed by the Cabinet. A project manager will be taken on by the Council to oversee the work. The Council has promised to consult with local community and amenity groups throughout the process. The rough time frame looks as if it will be:
8 March 2007 - The Riverside is Agenda item 18 at the Council Cabinet Meeting on Monday, 12 March at 7.00pm. The description for the item is 'To agree the next steps for the delivery of a Twickenham Riverside scheme that incorporates a River Centre operated by the Environment Trust.' 16 Feb 2007 - Update The Environment Trust have published a briefing on the proposed River Centre, which can be downloaded here (.pdf, 4 pages, 446KB). It's understood that the Centre will be discussed at the Council's Cabinet Meeting on 12 March. ^^ top of page |
| page created 28/07/08, last amended 28/7/08 |
