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Grotesque intrusion on the line of a beautiful ridge
• ONLY recently, the forested ridge either side of Athlone House (perfect for the setting) had the tranquil beauty of a scene in a painting by Claude Lorrain.
It has just been destroyed. Vulgar white new condo-type structures have become visible from the slopes west of Highgate Ponds leading up to the Tumulus. They are a brash, grotesque intrusion on the line of the ridge.
I believe there are grounds for a judicial review to decide that the appalling new structures emerging in the vicinity of Athlone House are “illegal structures” and, as such, they should be demolished immediately.
One ground is that they are counter to the spirit of the legislation that protected and preserved Hampstead Heath for the people of London.
Private wealth is making an “unsympathetic” invasion of the sightlines in protected public space. As “overbearing structures”, the spirit, if not the letter, of the legislation protecting Hampstead Heath calls for their immediate demolition as “illegal structures”.
Otherwise, they are demonstrably “inappropriate development” under national policies, as recently proved locally in the Vale of Health “Garden House” judicial review and Appeal Court decisions.
This provides a second set of “grounds for demolition”.
As an interim measure prior to demolition, the brash white condos could be painted with camouflage paint to blend in with their surroundings and/or a stand of mature cypress trees or poplars planted in front of them to block out their horror.
Christopher Truman
Marsden Street, NW5
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