A VISION for luxury riverside apartments and a string of restaurants in Hammersmith were blasted as 'unacceptable' this week after being flatly refused by council planners.
London develepors A2 Dominion had hoped to demolish the empty office block in Queens Wharf, Queen Caroline Street, to build 91 expensive flats, in an eight-storey complex, and with 627 square metres for restaurants and cafes overlooking the River Thames.
But campaign groups in the borough rallied to object and were joined by groups across the river in Richmond who blasted the impact it would have on the Grade II* Listed Hammersmith Bridge and the historic surrounding area.
The Hammersmith Society described the development as "inappropriate for this sensitive riverside site" while Digby Mansions Resident's Association, Barnes Community Association Environment Group and Hammersmith Mall Resident's Association also called for the development to be refused.
And their pleas were heard by the council's planning committee who threw out of the plans at their latest meeting on Wednesday and described them as 'unacceptable' and damaging to the community.
It was unhappy with a lack of affordable housing within the plan with only 32 apartments offered at discounted prices. Even then, they would cost between £242,000 and £492,000.
A report said: "The proposed development is considered unacceptable in the interests of visual amenity. It would be un-neighbourly and out-of-keeping with the general street scene and riverside context, and it would not take the opportunities to improve the character and quality of the area. It is considered to be insufficient quality for its highly prominent and sensitive location.
"It is considered to be unacceptable in the interests of visual amenity. More particular, by virtue of its height, bulk, design, location and relationship to neighbouring residential properties and street scene, it would constitute an inappropriate, over-bearing and un-neighbourly form of development."
The decision has been greeted by Hammersmith Mall Resident's Association chairman Andrew Hankey who set up the group in 2009 after moving to the borough.
The 71-year-old is hoping H&F Council will remember the dangers of this development when they come to consider the King Street Regeneration Scheme, to include high-rise development along the river, which he believes will have an even greater impact on the area.
"It is very pleasing because this was an inappropriate development," he told the Chronicle. "Hammersmith Bridge is Grade II* Listed and it is not something that should be crowded out by large developments along the river and is a historic monument that needs to be preserved. People are very anxious along this stretch. They are not against development per-se but demand it be done sympathetically.
"It can also be a helpful decision for us because of the impending King Street Regeneration Scheme and our campaign against that development. It will have a much greater impact on the skyline along the river and on the bridge so we hope they will bear this in mind when that lands on their desk."
