The Planning Inquiry into the planning applications for development at the Stag Brewery site on the riverside at Mortlake commences on at 10am on 5 November 2024. It is a public inquiry and anyone is free to attend. The venue is the Exchange Building near Twickenham Station. The Planning Inspector, Mr Guy Rollings, has allowed twelve days for the hearing: November 5 to 8, 12 to 15 and (if needed) December 3 to 6. The Council has refused the Inspector’s request to make the hearing available on Zoom.
What is at stake?
Save for the film studio the site has largely been unused since they stopped brewing in 2015. It needs to be put into proper use. There have been various proposals but this is not the place for a detailed explanation of the history. The current proposals are (in short) for an estate of about 1100 residential units (of which 7% would be affordable housing) and a 1200 pupil academy secondary school.
Procedure
The Hearing takes place before an independent government appointed Planning Inspector. He prepares a report based on the evidence he reads and hears and submits it to the Secretary of State (currently Angela Rayner), who can accept or reject it.
He will hear evidence from the main parties who are the developers, Reselton Properties, the London Borough of Richmond (LBR), the Greater London Authority (GLA) and those who have applied to be, for what is known as, a Rule 6 Party, which are the Mortlake Brewery Community Group (MBCG, supported by the Mortlake with East Sheen Society (MESS), the Barnes Community Association (BCA) and the Kew Society) and the West London River Group.
These parties will be represented by Counsel and will have the opportunity to present evidence and question the witnesses of other parties. It is known that the GLA has budgeted for costs of £450,000. MBCG is funded by local donors, a kind of double taxation as they are also unwillingly funding Council representation.
Other persons with an interest will have an opportunity to make representations but not to be questioned or question witnesses. This includes Cllr Niki Crookdake on overall viability, representatives of local schools who are opposed to the siting of a secondary school, Tim Catchpole on behalf of MESS and Richard White who will be drawing to the attention of the Planning Inspector the falsification of letters of support by agents for the developers for the planning applications in July 2023. They were not permitted to attend the Case Management Conference on 20 September 2024. A note of that meeting, which should include timetabling, is awaited.
The Main Issues
The cumulative scale of the proposals
Overall viability
Impact and Harms to Heritage and the Riverside
Height and Density of the Estate
Resulting Transport Issues
Is there a need for a Secondary School?
Resulting Loss of the Protected Sports Field
Safety in the Environment
Neighbourhood Infrastructure
Flooding
The GLA is known to be opposing the plans, primarily on the basis of harm to the heritage and the lack of affordable housing. They are silent on the need for the school, not being an education authority. They are silent on transport issues being beholden to Transport for London, which has raised no objection to the proposals.
The Bottom Line
The development will affect the Mortlake and East Sheen Community for a generation. Some will say approval is necessary because it has been empty too long. Others will argue that, although it is a space that needs development, it must be a benefit not a detriment to the local community, nor just to satisfy the financial demands of the Council and the developers.
This is the first genuine and independent opportunity for local residents to be heard as they have previously been ignored by the dominant forces of councillors from other parts of the borough. By no means all the councillors are comfortable with the proposals but a three line whip has been rigorously imposed by the ruling elite.
23 September 2024
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Thank you Richard.
I cannot see there is a need for a secondary school on the Brewery site.
Would have thought that there is already sufficient local provision even if 1100 units are built.
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That is a view shared by all the local schools, who are worried about their future viability, especially at sixth form level. The Council refuses to listen to them. And we know that primary school numbers are dropping London-wide. There are some local parents who believe they are entitled to ‘choice’.
In my experience the majority of local residents are against a secondary school, perhaps more on the basis of traffic problems, especially road and rail at Mortlake Station. The Council refuses to listen to such local concerns. That will be a central issue at the Inquiry. We need to make as much noise between now and then!
It may be that the Council is more concerned to have a new building on that site, which because of funding decisions taken in 2017, would be paid for by central government, unless the new Government decides not to continue to fund the Academy programme.
The better solution would be to move Thompson House School away from its two sites, one of which is not safe on Sheen Lane near the level crossing, to the Brewery site, where it would take less space than the proposed secondary school. That would enable the school playing fields to be preserved, under the current proposal to be lost to the secondary school, and enable a lower density of residential units with more affordable housing.
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