Published: Thursday 3 June 2021
In recognition of the opposition to plans for new homes on the site known as Edenham, next to Trellick Tower in North Kensington, the Council will be holding an additional round of consultation.
A total of 122 surveys were received with 90 stakeholders attending two live chat sessions as part of round two of the consultation into the plans earlier this year. The Council would like to thank all residents and stakeholders that took the time to share their views.
Here is a snapshot of what you told us:
- 67 per cent objected to the principle of providing new homes, improved outdoor space and flexible affordable community use/ workspace on the site, with 20 per cent of respondents supporting this
- When presented with a choice of three building heights for the tallest building (20, 18 and 16 stories), a large percentage of respondents chose not to answer this question. This is likely to indicate that respondents did not support any of these options. A third of respondents (33 per cent) chose 16 stories.
- 54 per cent objected or strongly objected to the proposed large landscaped central open space with an increased area, surrounded by smaller garden and park areas. This was largely due to respondents being against the scheme or height of buildings or because of the proposed movement of graffiti walls. Twenty nine per cent strongly supported or supported this approach
- There were mixed views about the location of the ball court. Twenty three per cent would prefer to see a ball court within the newly created open space while 22 per cent wanted a ball court north of Trellick Tower and 23 per cent would prefer no ball court
- When asked about a preferred location for public art space/graffiti wall, 24 per cent would prefer to see it located north of Trellick Tower, with 23 per cent preferring it to be integrated into the newly created central open space and 22 per cent wanting to see it on the eastern section of Meanwhile Gardens/Great Western Road Bridge. However 36 per cent would like to see the public art space/graffiti wall in another location, the vast majority of these indicating they would like to see it remain in its current location.
Following this feedback and to address these objections, we wanted to go beyond the traditional methods of consultation and have therefore been working closely with CoMMET (The Council of Meanwhile, Metronomes, Edenham and Trellick) and the Cheltenham Estate Community Steering Group (CECSG) in a number of workshop sessions to explain in more detail how the current design for the site was developed and to receive more targeted feedback to inform the next stage of design.
Following these meetings and the two rounds of consultation, we have increased the rounds of consultation from three to four and are now looking at discussing the updated proposals for the site with the wider community.
We will also be holding face-to-face events as part of round three to try and reach more members of the local community as we recognise not everyone has internet access so may not have been able to attend the online consultation sessions. It is important that as many local residents as possible who live near the site have their say.
Cllr Kim Taylor Smith, Lead Member for Grenfell, Housing and Social Investment, said:
“I truly do understand the objections to any development in what is already a very densely populated borough.
“The challenge we face as a Council is that without building new homes, we have no chance of solving the borough’s homelessness crisis. It is our job to balance objections over this pressing need and the Council’s duty to support some of our most vulnerable residents.
“We have gone above and beyond traditional methods of consultation by working with a group of local residents to find a compromise with a new ball court, improvements to the outdoor area and landscaping around Trellick Tower as well as community and employment facilities, that both the Council and residents can be proud of. This is much more than just a new home scheme and we want people to continue to have their say as we progress.”
We will be publicising details of the third round of consultation for this site in the coming weeks.
View the full consultation results and find out more information on the Edenham new homes web page.