A few weeks ago the Dame wrote of extreme disorder in the Chelsea Society ranks. The rank and file were fed up with the Committee, led by Cadogan lawyer, Damian Greenish, telling them what the CS view of the siting of Crossrail 2 was.
Anyway, the revolt forced Damian into some furious back pedalling.
Damian lives in Surrey and needs to be wary of bad tempered Chelsea dwellers....
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Dear Member,
As you may know Crossrail 2 is the proposed new high-frequency, high capacity rail line running beneath London and into Surrey and Hertfordshire. The current proposal from Transport for London (TfL) is that the new line will run through Chelsea, generally following the line of the King’s Road. The site of the Fire Station in the King’s Road has been safeguarded by TfL as a possible future station on this new line. Further details of the proposals, their present thinking and the future timetable can be found on their website here.
At a meeting of the Society’s Council in July 2014, the Council debated Crossrail 2 on the basis of the information then available. The decision of the Council (which was by no means unanimous) was that it supported the principle of the new line passing through Chelsea and accepted that, if it does that, then the preferred location for a station would be on the site of the Fire Station. However, that decision was subject to a number of stringent pre-conditions which the Society would require be met. First, the historic Dovehouse Green should remain undisturbed. Secondly, a fire-fighting capability for the area should be preserved. Thirdly, any new buildings should not exceed the height of the existing Fire Station's main building. Fourthly, the design and use of any new buildings on the site should be in keeping with the traditions and character of Chelsea. The Resolution passed by the Council can be found on our website here.
As you will also be aware the primary aim of the Society is to preserve and improve the amenities of Chelsea. Preservation and improvement can at times be difficult bedfellows but we try at all times to preserve the history, character and traditions of Chelsea whilst at the same time accepting that change is inevitable, albeit that it must always be carefully managed within the Society’s principles. The Society is concerned with Chelsea as a place and it needs to have regard, not only to the valuable opinions of our members and others who live here, but also to the views of the different stakeholders who make up the community of Chelsea; those who run our public services, who work in our businesses, who provide the housing or otherwise choose to invest here or simply visit.
There are significant events facing Chelsea which are likely to have a considerable impact, not only on the current generation of residents, business owners, workers and visitors but also the future generations who we hope will live and / or work in Chelsea. It is for that reason that, as mentioned in our most recent Newsletter, the Society is proposing to host an event in November to consider the “Future of Chelsea”. It will be an opportunity for the stakeholders of Chelsea to hear what we can expect to happen here over the next few years; not only the impact and effect of Crossrail 2, but also of the redevelopment of the Royal Brompton and Royal Marsden Hospitals, of the redevelopment of the Affinity Sutton Estate in Cale Street, of the changing face of the King’s Road, of the continuing overseas investment in our houses and flats and of government policy on affordable housing (will it continue to exist at all in Chelsea?). We hope that as many of you as possible will want to come to this event and express a view. We believe that the event will have an important influence over the decisions that will shape the future of Chelsea and on the Chelsea Society's own policies for the future.
In the meantime there is a meeting for those who oppose Crossrail 2 passing through Chelsea and the construction of a station here. The Society accepts that there will be residents (and others) who do not support Crossrail 2 and it is appropriate that their views should be properly heard in this important debate. For those who wish to attend the event, it is being held at Chelsea Town Hall on Tuesday 2nd June at 6.30pm. The Chairman of the Society's Planning Committee will attend the meeting and will report to the Council of the Society on the views expressed there.
The Society’s own event "The Future of Chelsea” will be held at Chelsea Town Hall in the evening of Monday 2nd November. We ask that you reserve that date in your diary.
Kind regards,
Damian Greenish
Chairman |
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This is a bit late in the day. The on-the-ball residents of Cremorne Estate woke up pretty early when the Council proposed moving the Crossrail 2 station to Cremorne at the loss of all their homes. The Council quickly backtracked after a consultation by Crossrail demonstrated total opposition to the idea. So back to the Chelsea fire station site – which of course will be out of action throughout any construction period. This site now has the approval of the Council because if they lose this station – and the Crossrail 1 station in the north at Kensal is very doubtful – then the whole borough will miss out on the benefits of Crossrail. It will become a quiet residential place, suitable for all the buy-to-leave property investors that the Council has encouraged for years. Soon there will be no actual residents left for the Council to worry about or for any public transport to serve.
ReplyDeleteA Cremorne station would not involve the "loss of all their homes". Some homes would have to go, but if you want a station that's the cost. The council doesn't seem fussed about moving people out for redevelopment - look at Sutton estate. Double standards here?
DeleteMeanwhile Crossrail2 at the fire station would help nobody except property developers. Cremorne residents would still have to take buses to get there, people living closer don't need or want the station. It's another example of the destruction of the Chelsea that residents love but the Chelsea Society doesn't. There are 1 billion reasons not to have Crossrail 2 in Chelsea. Let it go in a straight line from Clapham J to Victoria perhaps with a stop in Battersea where local people do seem to want it.
As for our councillors, what is their motivation? Not an ego trip, of course, or looking for their gongs.
The western edge of Chelsea is very badly serviced by public transport, unless you have forty minutes to spare to take the bus in rush hour to Sloane Square tube station. In the mean time, many more flats are planned in the Lots Road development and just across Chelsea Creek in Fulham. There is a clear need for a station in Lots Village/Cremorne as otherwise we are inviting traffic chaos for decades to come. However, instead of having a sensible discussion about the location (such as the vehicle pound?), the Council preferred to float the idea of raising Cremorne Estate to the ground, unsurprisingly getting strong opposition - leading to the conclusion that the best place would be the fire station. Many local people in Lots Village do want a station close by, but that idea seems to have been killed by a proposal that was doomed to fail.
DeleteD Greenish, Chairman of the Chelsea Society, looks like one of those ineffective solicitors (parents bough him a good education) getting paid by the gentry who want a Solicitor on their letterhead. (Shades of Cllr Warwick?). Poor Greenish feels in need of some "status" and the Chelsea Society is the best that he could come up with. Shoe horned in using the Cadogan patronage.
ReplyDeleteBut members have seen through it. Greenish is seen for what he is. Baggage.
Inconceivable that he is the lawyer for Cadogan. If that is true It might explain why he supports Crossrail 2 at the fire station. It would help the value of the Curzon site whose redevelopment was knocked back last year in a rare display by the council of listening to residents.
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