Queen's Park Tower Plan Web Resource

This website has moved.

2006-04-13T16:32:00.000+01:00

This website has moved. For continued information about the Queen's Park Tower Web Resource visit the new website : http://www.stopthetower.co.uk

Joint press statement between Genesis and Brent Council

2005-10-18T17:26:00.000+01:00

The Genesis Housing Group today [Monday 17 October] announced that it is withdrawing its current planning application for a landmark tall building next to Queens Park Station. Brent Council worked closely with Genesis on the application but has concerns about certain requirements, which were also expressed by the Greater London Authority (GLA). The GLA's main issues were regarding elements of the design of the building as well as whether it meets sustainability requirements and was able to deliver local improvements. Genesis has taken the opportunity to listen to residents in Queens Park, South Kilburn and Westminster and will continue to actively involve those groups in future plans for the site. Genesis plans to submit a new proposal next year following further consultation. Anu Vedi CBE, Chief Executive of Genesis Housing Group, said: "We are committed to providing much-needed affordable homes on this site. We intend to continue to work with the council in agreeing further consultation with the local community on the future of the Keniston Press and Salusbury Road carpark site." Councillor Ann John, Leader of Brent Council, said: "I would like to thank Genesis Housing Association for agreeing to take another look at this scheme and consider the matter further with local residents and planners." Brent Council's Planning Service has arranged a public meeting on 3 November to update local residents and explore future options for the Salusbury Road Car Park site, south of Queens Park Station. Councillor Neil Nerva, Chair of Kilburn and Kensal Area Forum, said: "The meeting on 3 November provides a real opportunity to explore how local residents can be actively involved along with Genesis and Brent Council in plans for this site."

2005-10-18T10:03:00.000+01:00

Today sees the addition of an email newsletter to the site. To be kept up-to-date with the proposed development at Premier Corner, please sign up to the newsletter. When signing up to the newsletter you are asked to provide your name, address and postcode. You do not have to provide personal information if you do not want to so the name and address fields are optional. However we do ask that you provide your postcode - we will use this information to generate a map (using google maps) that show where interest in the proposed development is coming from in the local area. Sign up to the newsletter using this link.

Sustained interest in the development

2005-10-16T12:15:00.000+01:00

This weblog is rapidly becoming a major info point for the proposed development at Premier Corner. I've published the website visitor stats that have been gathered today. In the first 16 days of October this site has had as much traffic as September and August combined. This is probably due to the posters and leaflets distributed locally by concerned residents. The increase in traffic shows that local residents are genuinely interested in finding out what information they can about the proposed Genesis development. The StatCounter.com utility on the left hand side of the page records the number of visitors to this site. It counts 'page loads' (in green on the graph above) which is a measure of the number of times the site has been visited. It also counts unique visitors (blue) and returning visitors (yellow) using a cookie stored by the web browser of the visitor to this site.

major public consultation event about this site...

2005-10-16T11:50:00.000+01:00

no, not this website, but a major public consultation event about the Premier Corner site. Date:Thursday 3rd November Time:19.00hrs Location:Queens Park Community School Cllr Neil Nerva writes:

Further information about this meeting will follow. Brent Council will be circulating invitation letters next week to residents in Queens Park, and surrounding areas. In addition information will be available on the Brent website. I have discussed with Brent Planning Service suggestions made at the Area Forum as to how consultation about the future use of this site might be improved. I hope that following the Area Forum held on 27th September, Genesis will reconsider their proposal and will agree to withdraw the current planning application. The planning brief mentioned a 10 to 20 storey building the current proposal from Genesis exceeds this. This will enable proper informed debate to take place about how the site might be developed.

In advance of the meeting on 3rd November Cllr Nerva has asked Brent Planning to discuss with Genesis and the Mayor of London the following issues:

Public Transport
- It would be a scandal if Queens Park Station is not rebuilt at the same time as the car park is developed
- More information is needed about the bus, pedestrian and cycling facilities
Phasing
- How can the development of the car park be properly linked to developments on the site of the British Legion and Albert Road Day Centre?
Community benefit
- What new community resources will be provided?
Design
- It is imperative that the architect appointed does not assume that the design is a fait accompli
- How can quality be assured for the design and final build?
- Local residents expect and want to be involved in the design if the building – how can this be achieved ?
- Can the architect provide more than one design for consultation with local residents ?

Cllr Neil Nerva writes...

2005-10-03T16:41:00.000+01:00

Labour Councillor for Queen's Park ward Neil Nerva left a comment on this post to the blog. Following the ACF held at Queen's Park Community School last week, he has now established that a major public consultation event is to be run by the Brent Planning Service and is likely to be held in the week commencing 31/10/05. As soon as we know the exact date and have further information we will post it here. Neil also advises us of a weblink to the South Kilburn Regeneration Project Homepage. In an email to us, Councillor Nerva writes

I along with other local councillors want to facilitate informed debate and ensure that both Brent Council Planning and Genesis are aware of and listen to the views and concerns raised by local residents. I do not regard the proposed development as put forward by Genesis to be a done deal.

Brent Council Contact details

2005-10-03T09:00:00.000+01:00

Postal address: London Borough of Brent Planning Service Brent House 349-357 High Road Wembley HA9 6BZ Case Officer: Meghji Hirani T: 020 8937 5231, F: 020 8937 5207 Email: meghji.hirani@brent.gov.uk Planning application reference: 05/1317

Kensal and Kilburn Area Consultative Forum

2005-09-11T00:33:00.000+01:00

'Area Consultative Forums were set up to give local people a say about the issues which matter to them. At each meeting, residents, traders and community representatives are able to raise questions about services provided by the council and other agencies in Brent. Chaired by a councillor, each area forum meeting is open to the public and is held during a weekday evening in an accessible venue' - From 'About ACF', Brent Council website At the Kensal and Kilburn ACF on Tuesday 27th September 2005 the proposed Queen's Park Development will be discussed. Refreshments provided.

Update from Brent Council

2005-09-11T00:27:00.000+01:00

Recently we posted a question about the decision making process for the proposed development in Queen's Park. We are interested to know whether this development is considered a minor development and as such the planning decision would be made by Brent Planner OR whether the decision would be made by a meeting of the Brent Council Planning Committee. We wrote to Meghji Hirani at Brent who advises us that:

This application will be decided at planning committee. There is not yet a date set for when this may be but all those that wrote in and provided their address will be notified of the date and time of the committee.

We will of course advise all readers of this blog with the date and time of the planning committee meeting.

900 page loads and counting

2005-08-23T00:20:00.000+01:00

We received our 900th hit yeaterday - not bad for a website devoted to a single local issue. Perhaps this interest will be taken into consideration when the planning decision is taken. Here you can see the stats for this website over July and August. In total this website has been viewed by 373 peple (at the time of posting) and has been access 902 times.

Planning Matters

2005-08-17T11:29:00.000+01:00

August 11th, Wembley Observer. Alex Stephens reports on the efforts of the local community to raise awareness of the development and to facilitate the participation of residents in the planning process. Here's a scan of the article for you to read.

Communication with Brent Planning Department

2005-08-17T11:22:00.000+01:00

We've received a copy of a letter written to Brent Council regarding the development at Salusbury Road Car Park and Claremont Road. People who write letters to the planning department either in support of or against the proposed development can be assured that their "views will be taken into account in assessing the application and when a recommendation or when a decision is made". The Planning Department advise that planning decisions are made in one of two ways in Brent:

1. Most types of applications, provided they follow the Council's planning policies, will normally be decided by the Director of Planning in consultation with senior officers. This system is known as 'Officer's Delegated Authority' and follows specific criteria laid down by the Council. N.B. Applications to which we have received written objections may be refused in this way: or 2. More significant applications, will be decided by Councillors at a meeting of the Planning Committee. Additionally, applications which are recommended for approval but two or more written objections have been received, or applications requested by two or more Councillors, will be reported to the Planning Committee.

But the Council's letter does not say whether this development is a significant application and will be decided by Councillors or whether this development decision will be made by the Director of Planning. Which would you prefer? For the decision to be made by your elected representives or by the Director of Planning. Write to the Council now!

Brent want your views on this development.

2005-07-14T08:57:00.000+01:00

To make your views known to Brent, click the link called "Comment on this planning application" in the sidebar to the left. To find out more about the application, click the link called "Planning application information" in the sidebar to the left. Below you'll find Brent's postal address and details of who's coordinating the planning application at Brent.

Architect's model

2005-07-10T16:40:00.000+01:00

This is a model of the proposed development, looking from Salusbury Road (roughly!) southwards over the railway bridge. The pinkish buildings in the foreground are the shops (e.g. Mr. Fish) at the traffic lights. The tall buildings to the right form the skyscraper whose scale everyone's objecting to, the other blocks directly in front of you and to the left are the redevelopment of South Kilburn—for instance, part of the scheme involves redeveloping that island of buildings (including the Falcon pub) currently used as a traffic gyratory—but that will come later, after the skyscraper (much shortened, everyone hopes) is built. Here's the same model looking (again roughly) from the direction of the Park. It looks like the top floors of the skyscraper are intended for investors who hope that views over Queen's Park will attract wealthy tenants and company lets. There's even a penthouse for sale on the roof! This is like the lunatic 1970s skyline anarchy that did so much to disfigure London (another Centrepoint, anyone?). It'll crush our neighbourhood and create a dangerous precedent—no doubt another developer/architect seeking gratuitous self-promotion in the future will attempt to slap another such personal advertisement across this part of the city for all time. Meanwhile, we huddled masses will be living in their shadow (literally!)—also for all time. Again, the pink buildings in the foreground are by the traffic lights and along the beginning of Harvist Road.

South Kilburn Development

2005-07-08T20:56:00.000+01:00

Fellow residents We draw your attention to a development that WILL take place unless it receives enough opposition to scale it down. You have only until the end of July to make your comments known to Brent Council. All South Kilburn (the area the other side of the railway tracks, southeast of Queen’s Park station) is due to be rebuilt soon in order to make it more people-friendly and to fit lots more people in. Fair enough—the area has a crime problem and needs to be brought into the 21st century after the mistakes of (surprise! surprise!) architects and planners in the 1960s. BUT… the “highpoint” of this major development is a building that is SO TALL it will DWARF the entire area south AND NORTH of the railway. Genesis Housing Trust is planning to build a HUGE 26-storey SKYSCRAPER right by Queen’s Park station in that car park by the bus stops. At 86 metres high, it’s just a few metres less than St. Stephen’s Tower (Big Ben to you and me)—but it will be MUCH, MUCH bigger in circumference, and its effect on the area will be devastating because our homes are built right up to it. And you know what? It’s only a little over 30 metres shorter than the new arch going over Wembley stadium—so that gives you a clue as to what this is really all about: it’s an architect-led “me too” monument so he can join the “mile-high” club. Building such a tall monolith is not about regeneration of the community—the people behind this insane scheme don’t care about us, the people of North Westminster, Kilburn or Queen’s Park. Theirs is a different agenda—ego, greed, megalomania and arrogance. Exactly the factors that led to the erection of the notorious Centrepoint building (where Charing Cross Road meets Tottenham Court Road) by the infamous property developer Harry Hyams. And guess what—the proposed skyscraper is just 20 metres less than Centrepoint! We invite you to stand under Centrepoint and look up and imagine you’re living under that. That’s what we’re in for. There’s no doubt the area just south of the railway needs help—it’s unfriendly to pedestrians, the traffic is all over the place and it doesn’t have that ‘friendly neighbourhood’ feel of Salusbury Road in Queen’s Park. BUT… all that can easily be fixed without having to build a massive skyscraper. The other new buildings in the new development will be anything up to 14 storeys high, but they will be further down the railway where there are existing blocks. So why are they planning a building twice that height, so close to our homes? The developers are basically sticking two huge great 90-metre fingers up to everyone living and working in the area. They seem to be confident that Brent will give them the go ahead. Unless you register your opinion (see links).

Compare these shorter towers!

2005-07-06T14:31:00.000+01:00

The proposed Queen's Park skyscraper is slated to be 26 storeys high. Here are photos of a few other towers in the area that you can compare with—and they're all shorter than what's being proposed! Why not go to your nearest block, stand underneath it and look up—then imagine the new skyscraper being much higher still! This is Blashford Tower, at the junction of Adelaide and Primrose Hill Roads, NW3. Blashford Tower is 20 storeys tall. This photo shows Casterbridge and Snowman Houses at the junction of Abbey and Belsize Roads. These towers are some 24 storeys high. Have you seen Falkirk and Glasgow towers, part of the Maida Vale estate? One crucial difference between these and the proposed QP skyscraper is that these are surrounded by acres of emptiness—they don't tower over the neighbours. The threatened skyscraper, on the other hand, most definitely will—literally—overshadow everyone living in the area.

Insane proposal

2005-07-05T09:15:00.000+01:00

The proposal is insane, and gets madder the more you think about it. For instance: one excuse for building the skyscraper is that they want to make it a “landmark” building that says: this is where a lot of money has been spent making the area nice. Rather ironic, don’t you think? Another reason they give is that they want to show the whole of this part of North London that this is where to find what they are calling a “transport node”, where people meet buses, the tube and trains. But do you know what would be so funny if it weren’t so tragic? Neither the railway bridge nor the station are included in the plans, because they are owned by Network Rail (or whatever they are called this week), and there are no plans whatsoever (or the money) to do anything to the moth-eaten 19th century station. So this skyscraper (with its upper floors reserved for immensely rich tenants with views over the park, lording it over all the little people—only the bottom floors are housing trust flats) is drawing attention to a mirage, something that does not exist. There is no modern integration of transportation—things will remain exactly as they are, with people having to walk from the bus to the trains in the wind and rain as they do today, only the winds being whipped up by the skyscraper will be a hundred times worse. Everyone in the area will feel the weight of this unbelievably big block on their heads: wherever you look, this architect’s wet dream will be a permanent blot on the cityscape. People way over in South London will be able to point at it and say: that’s where the people of London lost out to the developer, the uncaring council, the overweening architect and big business. The message needs to be: SCALE IT DOWN! Get back to sense of what is right for people, for the community, for neighbourhoods, for US!

More pix of blox!

2005-07-04T15:49:00.000+01:00

Here are more pix of nearby blocks to give you an idea of what we're in for—except that these are all shorter than the proposed skyscraper… Hall and Braithwaite Towers are on Westminster's Paddington Green estate, and they're a mere 20 storeys high… but they still look b....y tall! This is the Hilton where Marylebone Road meets Edgware Road by the A40 flyover. There's no way of knowing, but this may be about the height of the proposed block, or it may be shorter. Either way, can you imagine that in Queen's Park? And here's one we all know… Kilburn Square Tower towers uncaringly over the area—and it's only 18 floors tall, much shorter than the Queen's Park skyscraper. Do developers never learn from previous mistakes?

Some initial comments from people living here

2005-07-03T15:28:00.000+01:00

NP wrote: "I understand the need for maximisation of possible income to support a scheme such as this one. However, it should hardly be necessary to state that the tower is out of place and inappropriate for a low-rise neighbourhood such as ours. Surely there's some sort of compromise density/height that would leave us with something short of a north-west London Centrepoint. Perhaps this might be the time to show that consultation is more than a cosmetic exercise and let us poor drongos actually have a say in, or some influence over, what you decide on our behalf. It also seems obvious that to go ahead without changes to the railway bridge or co-ordination with Network Rail about the station, HOWEVER difficult that may be, is mad." And from PF: "Buildings this tall will destroy the local amenity: I do not wish to be overlooked in my garden. Increased windspeeds at ground level exacerbated by these tall towers will make walking difficult in certain meteorological conditions and wind chill factor in winter will make life very unpleasant for pedestrians at ground level around these structures. We do not need/there is no requirement for a skyscraper as a "landmark" - this is a predominantly residential neighbourhood. "We" have own own identity already. The proposed buildings will have a very negative effect on the skyline. The scale of these proposed buildings is inappropriate & unnecessary and out of character of the established local townscape. Please scale it down....DRASTICALLY". Could it be that BD has his tongue firmly in his cheek? "The benefits are plain to see: it looks like you could jump from one building to the next. At least, the residents could throw garbage onto each other's balconies. Business in the spy store (Kilburn Lane) would boom. And maybe Spiderman would come and hang around for an afternoon. My property value would increase because there would be a lot more f....ing yuppies living in the neighborhood. The poor folk in South Kilburn would could get jobs as cleaners and janitors in the new buildings!!!! :-O And the best point is that there would undoubtedly be a pool party to crash". Feel free to add your comments by clicking the button below—and don't forget to write in to Brent (use the link on this page) to make your position known. For all our sakes!

Yet more pix!

2005-07-02T11:25:00.000+01:00

Here is another selection of photos of tall towers in the area, yet all of which are much shorter than the skyscraper the developers are hoping to foist on us here in the Queen's Park area. The above tower is on Westminster's Paddington Green estate, and is some 21 storeys tall. The above tower is the failing Taplow House on the Chalcots estate on Adelaide Road by Swiss Cottage. It's a full 23 storeys high and immensely tall—yet it's still much shorter than the feared Queen's Park skyscraper. By way of contrast, here's the so-called Visage building going up in Swiss Cottage—just 16 storeys, but still plenty tall enough. The point is that distant views for a very few high-rise residents are probably quite attractive, but that attraction is far, far outweighed by the thousands and thousands of people who are positively disadvantaged by having tall buildings on their doorsteps. Imagine motorways being reserved for 1% of traffic, with the remaining 99% having to take the side roads: tall buildings are highly divisive and undemocratic.