Station Gateway consultation 30 Nov – points to think about

Message from Peckham Vision – http://www.peckhamvision.org  –  by email: This is a reminder of the Network Rail consultation on Saturday 30 November 11am – 3pm in the Old Waiting Room off platform 3 in Peckham Rye Station. The deadline for comments is 6th December. This is a once only chance to see and comment on what the newly commissioned Network Rail architects have to say about the way they will approach developing the planning application for the Network Rail buildings around Peckham Rye station. They promise a further event in January but this coming Saturday is the event to comment on the basic concepts about land use and buildings.

 POINTS TO THINK ABOUT

At the exhibition on Saturday it will be important to clarify and give views on:

*  what parts if any of the ‘preferred option’ will be used to develop the scheme for the planning application; see Notes below and the plan here:  http://goo.gl/mZuaOn ;

* what height might any new buildings be and what would be their impact  on the adjacent streets, especially Blenheim Grove and Holly Grove, with the effect on their light and space;

* whether the site is appropriate for new additional housing along Blenheim Grove;

* whether the extent of the redevelopment is necessary to achieve the improvements needed;

* what effect such wholesale redevelopment would have on the small creative and leisure businesses taking root in the buildings on the site, and on the emergence of that new strand of local economic & social activity.

 LOCAL ASPIRATIONS

The key part of the project is to re-create a public square in front of the station, which will replace the current arcade built there in the 1930s. This plan has wide support, though there remain interlinked key questions of what size the square should be, ie how much reduced by new buildings, and what functions the square should have. Views on this are needed.

Cleaning up the physical area around the station, making it more pleasant for pedestrians, and attracting more varied kinds of shops, are also long held and widely shared aspirations. A key question is whether or not any other buildings on the Network Rail land surrounding the station need to be demolished and replaced to achieve these. Views on this are needed.

NOTES ON THE ‘PREFERRED OPTION’

The ‘preferred option’, released only through an FOI request, is the result of an initial feasibility study in 2012, and the Network Rail architects say they will be reassessing the plans with your feedback in mind. They have said they will be presenting their own proposals which may or may not be in line with ‘the preferred option’. So your comments at this stage are very important. There is a significant lack of clarity about Network Rail’s intentions for these other buildings on the land to the side and behind the station building. The ‘preferred option’ which is part of the architects brief is shown here – see http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Peckham_Rye_Station_Gateway#Gateway_project_key_documents:

 This shows potentially:

*  new buildings replacing the commercial buildings along Blenheim Grove and Holly Grove, with residential above them (the buildings colour deep orange);

* new housing (colour green) in the forecourts of the business arches fronting on Blenheim Grove;

* a new building with a restaurant on top between the rail lines in Dovedale Court;

* clearance and simultaneous refurbishment of all the arches in Dovedale Court between the rail lines.

LOCAL COMMENTS

In the absence of information from the Council or Network Rail on what they were planning, Peckham Vision facilitated a public community conversation about the developments on this station site, and took its mobile exhibition to several fairs and community events. We collected comments about the possible developments around the station building. A summary of these can be seen here: http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Gateway_comments

There is also a public campaign for the provision of public toilets in this central part of Rye Lane: http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Toilets_petition. If you support this aspiration it will be important to repeat it in your comments on Saturday so that the possible locations for public toilets outside the station (as station toilets are available only to station users) are examined properly in the design stage.

Here is a summary of the several years’ community work for the restoration and improvement of Peckham Rye station and surrounds: http://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Peckham_Rye_Station_stages

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Peckham Vision

http://www.peckhamvision.org

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