WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL AT WAR WITH ITS RESIDENTS

After the reshaping of our political scene you would think politicians would now 'get it'!
If the councillors on the committee go against residents they need the same punishment meted out by a recent parvenu party! We need to support these two organisations against councillors determined to destroy Dolphin Square-a building 

that Londoners love.

The Dolphin Square Preservation Society and Protect Our Pimlico are requesting your support to protect the Grade II listed gardens and “unlisted building of merit” that is our beloved Dolphin Square complex.  Sitting along the Thames in Pimlico this iconic Square, designed and constructed in the 1930s to resist collapse in the event of aerial bombardment, has survived about a dozen wartime bombs but may not make it through the greed of the developers of 2019. 
The Square has been memorialised by K.F. Morris in “A History of Dolphin Square” and again in “Wartime In Dolphin Square” by Jan Prebble. 

It is now up to our generation to save it.

Despite over 170 local objections logged on the council website

https://idoxpa.westminster.gov.uk/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do?action=firstPage

and over 2,250 signatures on the petition against these plans

Westminster Council planners have recommended the plans be approved.

The final decision is now in the hands of the Major Applications sub-committee who on June 4th will decide the fate of this important building as well as the approximately 180, Option B tenants within. 

Attend the meeting and we would be very grateful if you would take a moment to email members of the planning sub-committee to let them know that you expect them to safeguard the local Westminster environment by protecting its buildings, people and its conservation areas. 

If one of the councillors listed below serves your constituency, we would be very grateful if you would take a moment to make it clear that you will no longer support them at council elections if they vote to approve the Westbrook plans to alter Dolphin Square and compromise the integrity of the Dolphin Square conservation area.

Committee members:

Gotz Mohindra (Conservative/ Regent's Park) gmohindra@westminster.gov.uk

David Boothroyd (Labour/Westbourne)  dboothroyd@westminster.gov.uk

Geoff Barraclough( Labour/Mada Vale) gbarraclough@westminster.gov.uk

Murad Gassanly (Conservative/Churchill Ward) mgassanly@westminster.gov.uk 

and Elizabeth Hitchcock (Conservative/ Knightsbridge & Belgravia). 

Reasons to object:

Dolphin Square historically offered flats at moderate rates for those working unsocial hours in central London, the proposed development offers little similar accommodation to the next generation. Thus, it does nothing to really tackle the growing housing crisis in Westminster.

Dolphin Square is a building of special interest due to its unique construction, history and usage. 

The proposed demolition of the entire north side of the Square would degrade the physical character of the Dolphin Square Conservation area, altering it beyond recognition. 

The Dolphin Square Conservation area was designated explicitly because of  Dolphin Square’s design and architectural significance. 

The proposed replacement for this north side would no longer be, as is the present building, sensitive to the height and light of its neighours: Pimlico Academy, the properties on St. George’s Square and Claverton Street. 

The replacement with its additional height would be completely out of scale and disruptive resulting in a sense of enclosure, loss of light and the human scale which now shapes a vital part of the local character. 

The plans do not preserve the unique Dolphin Square internal, art deco shopping arcade.

The Spanish Garden will be swept away in its present form and will suffer with a loss of light and sun, overshadowed by adding yet another floor to all of the surrounding buildings.

These plans are contrary to the Westminster Unitary Plan policy, protecting family flats of three and more bedrooms and opposing the development of short-term residential property as well as hotels outside certain locations of which this is not one.

These plans make a very poor social housing offer but will provide an excellent profit for its off-shore developers.