King Street facelift - your say
Monday September 21, 2009
Residents can have their say on plans for a new £1million public square for Hammersmith next month.
The seven-storey 1960s concrete Town Hall extension has been voted the ugliest building in the borough and the council is seeking to save taxpayers’ cash and regenerate the west end of King Street by replacing it with a new building to the side of the original town hall. The move would allow the creation of a new public square next to King Street.
Residents can have their say on proposals for the new civic square and find more about the overall scheme – which includes shops, restaurants and offices – at a public exhibition from October 15-17 in a trailer parked outside Hammersmith Town Hall.
Thursday 15 October: 4-8pm
Friday 16 October: 10am-4pm
Saturday 17 October: 10am-4pm
Councillor Mark Loveday, H&F Council Cabinet Member for Strategy, said: “We are committed to continuing our robust and thorough consultation on the King Street proposals with the people who matter most – local residents.
“We have already had many meetings with interested and affected groups in the area and this latest consultation is vital to getting the final proposals right.”
The council’s development partner – Grainger/Helical Bar – has set up a special company, called King Street Developments (Hammersmith) Ltd, and has spent the past few months preparing the essential technical details that will make the project a reality.
The public square will open up views of the art deco façade of the original Town Hall and be the centrepiece of the ambitious regeneration project.
A competition to select a design for the public square has begun and a shortlist of three architects have until October 14 to submit their entries.
Residents will have a chance to have their say on each of the short-listed schemes before a public square design panel – made up of expert stakeholders and development partners – recommends a preferred architect and approach to the council.
The consultation will also include information on the rest of the scheme – including the new, step free, pedestrian link over the A4 Talgarth Road to the Thames.
Once the current round of consultations is complete, King Street Developments Ltd is expected to hold further events on the detailed design in the early part of 2010 before bringing forward a planning application that summer. At that stage the council’s formal consultation with residents would begin before the planning committee considered any proposals.
The consultation on the King Street plans – including the designs for the public square – takes place in a trailer parked outside Hammersmith Town Hall between Thursday 15 and Saturday 17 October.
