This is not just about losing a well-loved store but the creation of yet more multimillion-pound flats dominating the surrounding area. The campaign is drawing support from every quarter....rich and poor.
All are fed up with seeing their wishes shoved to one side by moneymen
Officers and elected representatives of RBK&C should be fighting this tooth and nail.
It should not be left to Jennifer Grossman and the residents to fight this battle on their own.
Councillors are in place to protect residents....they need to do their job.
The Dame has asked Jennifer for a campaign update and she hopes all her readers will get behind Jennifer and her superbly driven campaign. The last post has 100 comments. Jennifer needs similar support.
If councillors won't back residents then at the next election they must be replaced by councillors who will.
More luxury flats and less amenity for the people of Chelsea. Ita reported that a wholefoods is planned for the site with the new flats overlooking residents properties. This is not what Chelsea needs. This overdevelopment would clog up the Kings Road for years, polluting neighbouring roads with toxic vehicle fumes, no thankyou very much.
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be a balance between business and community. Unfortunately this does neither.
ReplyDeleteIt’s just too much . We need stores that are affordable for the local community - another whole foods here is unaffordable for many in Chelsea . M and S provides good value affordable food . Chelsea must serve the local Community as well as International residents .
ReplyDeleteThe overdevelopment is higher than the current store . If it goes higher then the whole of Chelsea will start to rise . Please keep Chelsea , Chelsea . God forbid we end up with monstrous like towers a la the City , where on a windy day you can hardly walk down the street , due to the wind tunnels they create . Not appropriate for Chelsea .
ReplyDeleteGood to see the best councillor we ever had, Iain Henderson backing Jennifer. Shame that Cllr Lari and the Stalinist clique did for him
ReplyDeleteIt was M and S that was there for us in lockdown. It’s the only store on the KIngs Road where you can buy a pair of socks and a pint of milk at the same time . All the other stores - Co-op, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s are food only. We need a high street that caters for those who live here.
ReplyDeleteAll the Amenities for Chelsea locals are disappearing . The Queens Head pub gone - returning as something which the previous local customers cannot afford . The Trafalgar Pub gone . The Royal Brompton child heart services - gone. The post office , gone. Henry J Beans - Gone replaced by the Ivy . Truth is lots of businesses that cater to the high end are struggling . The busiest ones are the newspaper shops tha cater to what the locals need. We don’t want to end up as Jeddah on Thames . Chelsea must work for all the Community and not just the well off.
ReplyDelete'Jeddah on Thames ' is simple racism.Does the nationality, religion or race of massively wealthy developers make any difference to the outcome or the scale of the injustice done to local people or amenities. Even if the ultimate beneficiaries of overdevelopment are 'foreign' you can bet your bottom dollar that those who facilitate the crime ( estate agents , planners , architects, PR representatives etc. )will - almost without exception will be native english and privately educated. Focussing on race simply clouds the issue
DeleteOh, Rubbish...If it was a US or French developer the same would apply. It is always Middle Eastern or Far Eastern developers who seem to plunder our space for profit. Saudi Arabia and its repressive regime is hated that is why Jeddah was bought in.
DeleteSurely it is the Qataris ( close friends of our new Monarch) who have done the most harm to our environment & society.& Not the appalling Saudis?
DeleteI live at the back of M and S and own my own home . I spent many years working very hard to achieve my dream of a quiet retirement in the sleepy backstreets of Chelsea . Now i am faced with being overlooked in my shower by these hideous new apartments. I paid a premium for my property to live in a low rise ‘village’ in the heart of London . Instead i am being faced with increased disruption and noise for 7 years if this development goes ahead and at the end of it - no privacy . Come on RBKC we can do better that this !
ReplyDeleteIf Brexit was about taking back control - then why can’t we stop this overdevelopment in Chelsea . No EU rules to hold us back or so we were told .
ReplyDeleteI live in Chelsea and in lockdown that store saved everyone . We were locked down but at least you could say hello to the neighbours - albeit behind a mask . I have to go to Lidl in Clapham for the bulk of me and my Mums food shopping - which is not easy as i have to take two buses. Mum can’t use the internet and one of her only activities is popping down to M and S for a few bit of clothing and a few essentials when we run out . She see’s all her mates down there and thats where they make their arrangements to meet. I know there are lots of older people such as my Mum who use this place as a meeting point . The Pubs and restaurants are too expensive. They used to treat themselves at the Chelsea Kitchen or the Stockpot , now they’re both gone . A Waitrose to Lidl shop is in average £20 more expensive . The M and S retail offering food and clothing is the only place round here where you can do both .
ReplyDeleteThe really poor cannot afford M& S ( admittedly Wholefood is worse). When will the well heeled residents of King's Road recognise that it is their Tory Councillors and useless government that has allowed the destruction of Old Chelsea ? And surely the Cadogan Estate carries much responsibility ?
DeleteWe must sop such development that overrides community amenity .
ReplyDeleteSurely the Environmental knock on of demolishing a perfectly sound building , sending all the waste to a landfill, coupled with all the lorry movements and lorry fumes , makes this Environmentally unsound . If the Mayor of London wants us all to get out of our cars and start walking , then local Councils need to understand that local shops are essential if we are to stop climate change , local shops that are affordable and relevant to the Community .
ReplyDeleteSurely the Cadogan Estate has more influence than anyone else on the commercial tenures of Kings Road? And clearly the person who claimed that 'Newsagents ' were popular has no idea about 'profit and loss'? Even we old people have stopped buying papers or fags ?
DeleteHow are the Council going to reach their net zero target with the demolition of this building . My folks were believers in re-use and mend. The Environmental impact of this development should not be allowed .
ReplyDeleteThe developer also lied back in 2021 when they said M&S lease expires in 2023 and that M&S were not going to renew it as it did not fit their business needs. Whereas M&S responded by saying they did indeed want to say in that building on the King's Road
ReplyDeleteA dreadful development that will simply add nothing to the community - whilst a foreign billionaire pockets millions, a little bit more of Chelsea's heart and soul disappears
ReplyDeleteI will support this completely so please keep us updated and what we should do. More unoccupied flats bought for investment is not what we need.
ReplyDeletePretty irresponsible to condem the project without showing the renders and linking to the video. Why ask people to accept your view in blind faith?
ReplyDeletesays one of the developers' lackeys. And condemn has 2 n's
Delete20:00 Get a grip! The Dame wrote a very in-depth piece last week. If you had taken the trouble to read it you might have seemed just better educated
DeleteYour comment makes no sense and isn’t responsive: why are you against people seeing and learning more about the project before the object?
DeleteDid you not read this? It's clear you are not a regular reader but have 'dropped in' to try to divide and rule. Read this and learn....if you are capable of doing so. http://fromthehornetsnest.blogspot.com/2023/03/stop-saudi-billionaire-ruining-our-road.html
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