OBNF Meeting Notes: 23rd May 2018

1) Update on the Judicial Review:

Our QC Paul Stinchcombe served Southwark on 9th April 2018. After delaying their response,
Southwark replied denying all allegations and wrong doing. We will reply to Southwark’s
response which will be the close of submissions, all correspondence will then go to a judge
to decide if the case will be heard.

2) Visitor Alice
Alice a Tanner Street resident visited the meeting to give us information on her
neighbourhood groups objections to Southwark over the Tanner Street warehouse
development. Privacy and the height of the building are the main concerns that they
expressed to the council. The architects for the development visited Alice and offered to
change the glass film to tackle the issue of privacy. Aside from that over the last few months,
Alice and her neighbourhood group have heard nothing from the council regarding the
planning application.

3) Capital House/ Quill

By FRIDAY 25TH MAY 2018 objections must be made to the council regarding the Capital
House development. Everyone has been asked to speak with at least 5 friends and
neighbours, encouraging them to register their objections to the development. Please see
some key points of objection below:

OVERBEARING HEIGHT AND APPEARANCE

The 157m tall proposal affects the backdrop of St Pauls as seen from Parliament Hill (a key view in
the ‘London Views Management Framework’) to a much greater extent than did the previous “Quill”
permission.

The proposed tower would have a significant and harmful impact on views from within the
Bermondsey Street Conservation Area and protected views from within the Tower of London
because of its height/massing as well as it’s detailed design.

The height of the building would be excessive, particularly in views westwards along St Thomas’s
Street whereby the building would be oppressive and overly dominant as a direct result of the
excessive height. The tower’s complete domination of its context will effectively destroy the
character of the surrounding area and its rich local heritage settings.

NO ON-SITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The application proposes 0% on-site affordable housing. This is contrary to both local planning policy
and the London Plan. The questionable argument and associated evidence (that the proper
functioning of the proposed Migration Museum makes it impossible to provide entrances at ground
level for anything other than 1028 student rooms) has been omitted from the application - along
with (crucially) a full Viability Assessment - as was specifically requested by the council in their pre-
application advice.
SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
At 45 storeys the proposal is 4 times the height of the existing building while being just 5m from the
nearest neighbours. This insensitive over-development of the site will cause overshadowing, wind-
tunnel and noise-canyon issues that will have significant negative effects on residents, businesses
and pedestrians on St Thomas Street, Weston Street and Melior Place. There is also a severe lack of
onsite outdoor amenity provided along with insufficient cycle storage for the proposed student and
museum uses.

POOR AND MISLEADING CONSULTATION

This is the first piece of a (not yet public) highrise-masterplan for St Thomas Street which the council
have been cooking up with developers for over a year. Applications like this which set a precedent
for driving a highrise wall of glass between the conservation area and the listed railway arches must
be rejected until the council are willing to publish their masterplan and properly consult upon it with
the local community and the general public.

The consultation events carried out by the developer were vague, misleading and have been
exploited in the submitted SCI which is misrepresentative of the views of the locality.