“Xanthe, chris and everyone else who objects to the developments and regeneration of Brentford..”Frankie - I did not say I objected to any development.Some of your statements are simply nonsense. Having worked for LB Hounslow I can tell you that the planners and related disciplines including traffic and transport planning people (including myself) invested a great deal of time and energy over many years in meeting with developers and brokering the best possible developments to support the regeneration of the borough, especially Brentford. Huge amounts of time were invested on both sides, only to sometimes see the developers quietly withdraw due to problems with financing their developments or doubts as to their economic variability. I cannot name individual sites or developers as many of the meetings were only at pre-application stage, where the developers’ commercial confidentiality needed to be respected. Brentford is not the same as inner-city Sydney. First, it’s actually outer London and second, the UK was hit much harder than Australia by the economic downturn. In the decade before the downturn we’ve seen many major developments in the borough approved and built, including GSK’s headquarters, Sky’s new studio, Wallis House/Great West Quarter, Brentford Lock, Ferry Quays, and In Chiswick, the huge Business Park and at the other end of the Borough the Bedfont Lakes industrial park and others. Some of these, approved years ago (and others including St Georges and St James at Kew Bridge) are still under construction.There are usually two sides to every development story. Which you choose to believe is, I guess, up to you, but you would be wrong to assume that resistance from planners and over-consultation by the Council were the reasons for the failure of some of the major developments to proceed. Planners try to improve developments proposals, not simply frustrate them.
Chris Calvi-Freeman ● 4501d