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Artist’s impression of the towers |
Time to downsize towers?
Push for ‘more gentle’ canalside development to match economic climate
LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson’s spokesman on the waterways this week added his voice to a call for the ditching of plans for two Centre Point-style tower blocks overlooking Regent’s Canal at the Angel.
Murad Qureshi, chairman of London Waterways Commission, called for a “gentler” development, after it was revealed in the Tribune that the two blocks – of 38 and 28 storeys – could fall victim to the credit crunch.
British Waterways (BW), part of a consortium with Islington Council, had planned to begin work on the development at City Road Basin late last year or early this year. BW now admits there are “delays” and “difficult” conditions, but insists the tower blocks scheme will go ahead.
Mr Qureshi, a London Assembly member, said that one of the reasons developers had been pressing for waterside schemes like City Road Basin was that their land values were about 15 to 20 per cent higher than other sites.
“It’s quite clear the credit crunch is having an impact on all these waterside developments in London,” he said.
”But I think that in these economic times we’re going to have to be more gentle with our ideas for riverside developments. By that I mean they can’t be as huge as we would have imagined.”
Harley Sherlock, vice-president of the Islington Society, and a former chairman of the Royal Institute of British Architects (London region), said that even before the credit crunch he did not think the scheme was viable.
He added: “Who wants tall offices so far out of the City? And it is not really very good as a residential site.”
He would like to see the landscape restored to its previous industrial glory with three-storey, warehouse-style buildings in keeping with the environment.
Mr Sherlock, who served on the London Canals Consultative Committee in 1998, believed that “a high density but low-rise development would make more sense”.
Stuart Mills, director of property at British Waterways, said: “Inevitably, there may be some delays to the development due to the credit crunch and the difficult conditions that currently exist in the property market.
“We’re experiencing the same economic difficulties as every other development consortium. However, we remain committed to this project and will move onto the next phase of development as soon as the market allows.” |
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Your comments:
WHEN comments such as these are made from members of the London Assembly and the Mayor's office one wonders what exactly would keep these NIMBYs happy; perhaps Messrs Qureshi and Sherlock would like the proposed 3-storey buildings to be thatched. Would that be sufficiently gentle?
Islington remains an uncommonly difficult borough for developers, witness our MP effectively blocking the development at 100 City Road, leaving us with the current eyesore and more importantly snatching away the opportunity for more jobs and living space. With the current economic climate the way it is, Islington can ill-afford to block commercial opportunities such as this.
Dr. S. Bradley
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