By Tim Dickens
Councillors are expected to approve a modern block of flats in an historic corner of Brockwell Park despite the fears of community groups who say “intrusive” plans would blight a scene unchanged since the 19th Century.
A planning committee will tomorrow decide the fate of the four-story development, on Brailsford Road and near the Brixton Water Lane entrance to the park, after a report by officers recommended the plans.
But residents, park users and heritage groups believe the project will “irrevocably” change the character of the Victorian area.
Alice Salisbury, membership secretary of the Friends of Brockwell Park (FoBP) wrote to members last week urging them to attend the planning meeting tomorrow night at 7pm at the town hall, Brixton.
“The area around the Brixton Water Lane entrance is historically significant and has not been substantially developed since Victorian times,” said Ms Salisbury.
Brockwell Park gives people an opportunity to leave behind crowded streets for an open, green environment. The substantial size of the windows overlooking the park from only a few away will be hugely detrimental to this sense of openness and escape.” Alice Salisbury, FoBP.
The proposal will see a four-storey building housing eight new flats on the site of a former antiques workshop. Architects Alan Camp said in their application that the block’s “high quality design” and “contextual materials… will have a positive impact on the Brixton Water Lane and Brockwell Park Conservation Areas.
She claims that the Water Lane entrance offers one of the few remaining ‘original’ views of Brockwell Park, looking almost exactly as it did in 1892 when the Park was created.
An application for a 12-flat building on the site was refused in 2007.
View the planning application here.
