Waltham Forest Civic Society

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Walthamstow Town Centre

Station Car Park site
15th October 2011- work has started to construct a 14 storey tower block to house a Travelodge 99 room hotel and 69 flats. For more details see the Planning Application 2010/1047. To see pictures of the site go to GALLERY.
 
Arcade Site Meeting 6th September 2011
A meeting of various stakeholder groups was held with the architects Pollard Thomas Edwards and Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association to discuss the latest plans for the development oif the Arcade Site in Walthamstow Town Centre.
 
  1. The whole site will be developed with a complex mix of residential (approx. 130 units) , retail (6 units) and a 7 screen underground cinema in 6 storey blocks.
  2. Balconies – they have turned the block around along the High Street so that fewer balconies will be visible from the street. Balconies are needed to meet the London Plan’s requirements for private amenity space. The balconies along Hoe Street will be internal to reduce noise and those along High Street will be external. They are still debating the best way to create the external balconies i.e  transparent or opaque.. As they were often used just for extra storage space they need to be designed so that they do not impact on the street scene.
  3. Cinema – a 7 screen cinema is to be provided and they are in negotiations with a cinema chain. They said the Cinema Trust, set up to acquire the Granada, is supportive of this plan as it would compliment an arts centre in the Granada. The cinema will be underground and accessed by escalator. Its entrance will be off the High Street.
  4. Cleveland Park Avenue – the houses which will be built overlooking the Avenue have been set back from the existing houses and will have a wall at the end of the gardens to stop overlooking. They are looking at making it a “green wall”. These properties will in effect be built over the cinema.
  5. HSBC – the freehold is not owned by the Bank but by a Trust who want the income the site generates. If the Trust is not prepared to sell then this site cannot be included in the development.
  6. Retail – the ground floor will be used for retail units which could be shops or restaurants. The type of restaurants will be part of the negotiations with the cinema chain.
  7. Materials – the type of materials the building will be constructed with is still being considered. One option is to use materials with a reflective nature to ensure the building is effective as a gateway to the Town Centre.
  8. High Street – the area in front of the High Street façade is to be developed by the council as public space. Negotiations are in hand with the council to work out a suitable design which will link in with the Town Centre. The retail units will be curved to create space for pavement type café facilities. The council will also be redesigning the road layout in Hoe Street.
  9. Service Access – access to service the complex will be via a lorry entrance by the HSBC and direct from Hoe Street. It will only accommodate one lorry and it will mean vehicles having to reverse back out into Hoe Street. The houses in Cleveland Park Avenue will be serviced via the Avenue.
  10. Timescale – Further public consultation and computer generated images will be carried out during September and the Planning Application is expected to be submitted October 2011. Work will not be allowed to start until after the Olympics

 

Arcade Site Walthamstow 22nd August 2011

Timescale – Further public consultation and computer generated images will be carried out during September and the Planning Application is expected to be submitted early in 2012. Work will not be allowed to start until after the Olympics. Further details will be posted here as they become available.

Arcade Site Walthamstow 14 July 2011

Exhibition of proposals for the Arcade site by Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association (ISHA).

Put simply the new proposals are boring. They consist of 5 storey blocks around the perimeter of the site extending along the back gardens of Cleveland Park Avenue. The blocks all have balconies so that “open space” can be provided. The flats will be for social housing.

At ground level there will be retail units, restaurants and a cinema below ground level. ISHA is now consulting residents and will be fine tuning their proposals based on resident’s views.

The Civic Society’s view is:

1.       It is good the height is now compatible with its surroundings.

2.       Balconies in a Town Centre are wrong. Balconies tend to be used for extra storage or for drying clothes and look scruffy very quickly. Just take a trip down Leytonstone High Road or West Green Road in Haringey. As the gateway to the High Street balconies will create a tatty feel, just reiterating the impact the current market has.

3.       Cinema – it makes no sense to have a cinema next to the existing one. It impairs the chances of the Granada building ever becoming viable as an arts complex. Does it make any commercial sense building a new multiscreen cinema showing the same films that all the other complexes show a short journey away in the West End? The restaurants around the Pickets Lock Cineworld have all closed so this model really does not seem to be viable now.

4.       Restaurant – the developer has not decided on the size or number of catering outlets but it is likely only a chain could take them on – Macdonalds or Pizza Hut? Would this really enhance Walthamstow when so many small, excellent catering establishments have opened up along Hoe Street and in the Village?

5.       Finance – ISHA is working with Hill Residential who will fund the development with Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects designing it.

See an example of their work in Chingford:

http://www.hillresidential.co.uk/?page=GilwellHill

 

6.       Timescale – Due to the Olympics work can’t start until Autumn 2012. In the meantime a planning application will be submitted this Autumn with the hope of gaining planning permission early in 2012.  

 

Once again an opportunity to be creative and take Walthamstow in a different direction from all the other boring shopping arcades has been squandered. Developers should try and encourage the strengths of Walthamstow by having artists workshops and galleries, niche cafes and restaurants and creating attractive outdoor spaces people will want to linger in, not balconies with other people’s washing blowing around in the breeze.

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