Mayor Sadiq Khan is next to decide on planning for the Mortlake Brewery redevelopment

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Letter to Sadiq Khan, London Mayor, from Peter Eaton and Francine Bates, Co-Chairs Mortlake Brewery Community Group.

The Mayor of London

City Hall

The Queen’s Walk

London

SE1 2AA                                                                                                            11/02/2024

Reply to

MBCG

Dear Mayor Khan,

Former Stag Brewery -Mortlake   Applications 22/0900/OUT & 22/0902/FUL

We write in relation to these two inter-linked planning applications. They were heard at Richmond’s planning committee in July last year with a resolution to grant consent but Application 22/0900/OUT was then subject to amendments due to changes in fire regulations for residential buildings over 18m.

The amended scheme went to committee again last week – (application 22/0902/FUL did not, as this school site was not affected by the new fire regulations), and the application was again subject to a resolution to grant consent but again is subject to referred to the Mayor of London, and indeed the Secretary of State.

We represent the local community group -the Mortlake Brewery Community Group – who have since the outset, when it was announced that the site was up for redevelopment, have been seeking an inspiring, sustainable scheme of exceptional quality for our area.

We closely liaise with other local community and resident groups who all share our deep concerns and specific objections to the latest proposals. These are summarised primarily as follows: –

• The scheme provides a woefully low percentage of affordable homes, an mere 7% – just 65 units in a total of 1075 residential units in a unique, prime riverside location in one of west London’s most desirable areas.
• Planning policy (and the emerging new Local Plan) set a maximum building height of 7 floors on this site yet the amended scheme still includes building blocks of 8 and 9 floors.
• The Adopted Planning Brief for the site reiterates a maximum height in the core area, but also requires buildings to lower towards the site edges. The highest blocks contravene this requirement with many of the tallest 6/7/8/9 storey building blocks on the sensitive edges nearest the towpath and Thames riverside
• The scale, height and massing of the scheme, despite the recent amendments, still remain harmful to heritage assets and also riverside key views.
• The scheme also contravenes the latest NPPF in relation to Para 130. We maintain that the scale, massing, height and visual appearance of the proposals are- “wholly out of character with the existing area”. The existing context is predominantly a 2/3 storey terraced housing streetscape bounded by the ‘Arcadian’ setting on the Thames riverside.
• Application B – 22/0902/FUL – involves the total loss of the 2ha OOLTI protected sports fields in the SW corner of the site. Richmond planning policy does permit re-provisioning of such open green space, but we maintain that the proposals do not meet policy in terms of re-provisioning – which requires equal or improved quantum, quality, and openness. We maintain the designs fail on all three counts.
• The site has extremely limited access which places immediate restrictions given the constraints of the river, railway lines/level crossings and sheer volume of existing traffic on the local infrastructure. To add to this Hammersmith Bridge remains closed to traffic. With the cost of repair now announced at £250m, then any prospect of the bridge re-opening before any demolition, construction, or even occupation of buildings on the Stag site seems fanciful at best.
• Richmond Council still claim that a new secondary school is required in Mortlake. However, we still challenge the data they use to support their claim. They also ignore the clear evidence of the dramatic reductions in reception/primary pupil numbers, coupled with ONS data on families moving out of London and a declining population trend over the next 10 years.

We recognise that the scheme does provide new homes, does create a mix of employment opportunities, as well as introducing an improved level of permeability but do not consider that the benefits outweigh the harms and is a clear contravention of national, London Plan and Local Plan policy.

At your public Hearing for the earlier scheme in July 2021 you quite rightly called out Richmond for its poor reputation in delivering affordable housing in the borough. Clearly the offer of affordable homes is intrinsically linked to the Financial Viability of the totality. When the London Plan policy and indeed Richmond’s own policy both require 50% affordable homes then a 7% offer is however beyond belief.

The developer claims that the FVA in fact doesn’t support ANY affordable homes.

Clearly new fire regulations, building costs and financing costs will have put pressure on the FVA but many of us locally ask how the original 2020 scheme comprising almost 900 units offered 17% affordable and this latest design with 1075 units supports just 7%. Clearly the FVA assessment needs very close scrutiny. The FVA goes into massive detail on building costs and infrastructure costs – pages and pages. It however uses rather more general figures for property values, adopting a ‘blended’ value for instance in the high £900/SF region for the market homes/units.

Our recent research on property values for other riverside schemes of 5-8 floors shows sale and sold figures which range between lower rates of £1150 – 1400/SF and higher figures which range from £1700 to as high as £2218/SF. Some of the premier, top storey units with river views attract the highest ranges.

On the Stag scheme many of the residential blocks have stunning riverside settings with long views over the Thames and beyond to uninterrupted swathes of Metropolitan Open Land on the northern banksides.

We respectfully suggest that a much closer eye is cast over the FVA, providing a more detailed analysis of the values of the proposed housing, and so that there is a fairer comparison with the detailed level of construction costs in the BNP Paribas figures.

Over the last 8 or so years neither the developers nor the Council have been willing to truly engage with the local community, to listen to our ideas and concerns, and work together to create a scheme which we can all support and enjoy, and is crucially, aligned with planning policy.

Indeed, the local council’s leader has publicly labelled us as NIMBYs, which is so far from reality. We worked closely with the Council’s officers to produce the original Stag site’s Adopted Planning Brief, and have subsequently prepared our own Community Plan, but with little or no interest from Richmond or its leadership.

We remain committed to the delivery of an outstanding, sustainable and beautiful scheme but sadly for now must urge you Mr. Mayor to refuse both these interlinked applications.

Peter Eaton and Francine Bates

Peter Eaton / Francine Bates      Co-Chairs Mortlake Brewery Community Group.