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The Old Post Office Site Development and Proposed Changes to Fairfield
In keeping with the SGRA's mission to provide information this webpage pulls together links and information
about the proposed development and concerns raised about it. However please note that while we do out best it is hard
to keep up to date with developments and to check everything so please access the key links directly for
the latest info. If you wish to add or correct anything please contact us.
1. The Proposed Redevelopment of the Old Post Office Site
2. Concerns which have been raised about the proposed redevelopment
3. Kingston Residents Alliance
4. Fairfield
5. Petitions to save Fairfield
6. What you can do if you wish to comment or get involved with KRA
7. Contact the Grove Ward Councillors
8. Links
1. The Proposed Redevelopment of the Old Post Office Site
Residents may be aware of plans submitted by St George to develop the Old Post Office site in Kingston. At present these include as
21 storey building, 380 new homes and 42,000 square feet of retail, office and community space. St George's website
about the development is
www.theoldpostofficekingston.com.
2. Concerns which have been raised about the Proposed Redevelopment
Spring Grove residents may also have become aware that views have been expressed by a number of Kingston residents
that while there are certain admirable aspects about this proposal a number of concerns have been raised including concerns about:
- The height and scale of the proposal
- The density of population and the imjpact on local infrastructure, amenities and services such as schools, GPs and hospitals.
- Sustainability
- The visual impact on the Ancient Market and Fairfield and other key viewpoints in the borough
3. Kingston Residents' Alliance
The Kingston Residents Alliance has been formed from a number of groups within Kingston to voice these and other concerns. This
is an extract from its website describing its mission:
We have no political alliance nor special interest in Kingston other than to support our Council
in making the best possible decisions for our town's future. Sometimes support also means making our voice
heard when things aren't going the right direction ....read more
"Opposition" isn't really the right word here, which tends to refer to political or idealogical opposition. Rather, we like to think of it as a positive influence when we don't feel the Council is working for its constituents. We recognise that residents come from various backgrounds and differing political and religious persuasions. Because of this KRA has no formal organisation, nor do we align ourselves with any other organised group. We like to think of ourselves as a virtual pub where residents can come together to feel more connected with their community, voice their concerns, and take action, if necessary.
Up to date our primary actions have been working with various development plans coming through the Council. We aren't experts on planning policy and make no claims to fully understand the issues involved. We simply believe that what Kingston needs is reasonable, balanced growth on a human scale. We want a walkable town that we love to live in, that is safe and healthy for our children, that revitalises community and culture, and that engages in sustainable practices that make Kingston a vibrant and resilient town centre for decades to come. Development is inevitable but but not at any cost. There is plenty of evidence out there that low- to mid-rise towns and mixed-use buildings (residential, cultural, and commercial) all work to make happier, healthier residents and more vibrant urban environments. We believe that a lot of this is common sense.
4. Fairfield
In "The Eden Development brief" published by RBK in November 2014 the possiblity of paving over part of Fairfield
for the Monday market was discussed. The situation was reviewed at a COuncil Meeting in early February and while it was
agreed to also look for other options for the Monday market the Fairfield option has not been ruled out. Further information
will be included here as soon as possible. YOu can download the Eden Quarter development brief
here.
5. Petitions
The KRA currently have links to two petitions on their website - one to
Reject plans for high-rise buildings in Kingston and one to
Save our Fairfield"
6. What you can do if you wish to comment to RBK about the proposal, or get involved with KRA
This is a letter from Kingston Residents Association with informationsection will be completed following the meeting on 19th February.
Dear Neighbour,
As you may know, the Kingston Residents Alliance is a non-partisan group of Kingston residents against the proposed developments of Kingston Town Centre. We believe the current scale of expansion is against the interests of local residents. Our main demand is to stop Planners and Developers from going ahead with major planning applications and decisions without taking real notice of Kingston residents’ needs. We also feel residents’ interests are not represented fairly by the Council.
You probably also know that we have a website, facebook group and twitter account. All these have been initiated by concerned residents in their own time. We also have an online petition, which questions some of the planning decisions and development plans of business in and around Kingston Town Centre. That petition has so far gathered 545 signatures and does not include paper petitions we have already handed it in to the Council earlier in the year.
Unfortunately none of the above is enough. If we want to get more attention and therefore taken more seriously, we need to spread our plea to everyone who may share the same concerns as us.
So here is what we can all do:
- Let our wider circle of friends and neighbours know about the KRA’s activities by pointing them to our social media links:
www.kingstonresidents.com, twitter: @kingstonSkyline,
facebook groups/Kingstonresidents.
- Remind everyone that our online petition is still active and our current target is 2,000 signatures http://goo.gl/J3JM43
or access it from the KRA website
- Let the Council know about our concerns by sending direct e-mails and tweets to the Leader of Kingston Council:
Kevin Davis: @kevinjdavis
.
- And please turn up to our next event, the KingstonSwarm next Saturday 7th March at 11.11am. We know the Kingston Society, Save the Fairfield, Change.org and the author Jacqueline Wilson will be there to support us. So if you have local or London-wide press contacts, this is an event worth mentioning to them. Feel free to print and display the attached posters or copy and forward to your choice of friends/social media as you wish. The more the merrier!
On a final note, we are not an organized committee and everything done so far is based on individual residents’ availability. Everyone chips in to an area they feel they can make a contribution to and we have no plan to change this. It is a very post-modern, distributed model of leadership! All we ask is that everyone does what they feel they can to stop further destruction by the Council of what is left of our historic town centre.
7. Contact the Grove Ward Councillors
You could also contact the Grove Ward Councillors. Contact details are can be found on this
webpage or use the links below:
Chrissie Hitchcock: .
Phil Doyle:
.
Stephen Brister:
.
8. Links
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