| |
A project out of keeping with Heath
• WHEN Sir Simon Jenkins stated: “Planning is the distribution of short-term market forces in the cause of long-term civilised living” he had another development in mind.
But his maxim fits the proposed Fitzroy Farm development.
Robert Sutherland-Smith’s heartfelt letter (It’s a wake-up call for all those who love the Heath, May 1) clearly and eloquently describes the enormity of what is proposed there and, from my own knowledge of this pastoral corner, his words possess a telling veracity.
That the developer is, reportedly, an offshore hedge fund is hardly surprising in modern London, but the readiness to deploy vast wealth on an entirely self-interested basis should not accord it carte blanche to impose a building project that is grotesquely out of character with Hampstead Heath and its immediate border.
Without doubt, several years of noise, of semi-permanent occupation by suites of Portakabins and of all-pervading chaos would be inflicted on everyone and everything in and around Millfield Lane.
At a stroke the locality would be subordinated to the creation of a grandiose property and the precedent for further multi-million pound building conceits in the future would be created.
The delicious feel of rurality in this part of the Heath’s border is beyond price and would be lost forever.
I urge Camden Council and the City of London Corporation to take the long-term, public spirited view and maintain the status quo.
Geoffrey Tuffs
Barbican, EC2
|
 |
|
| |
