Urban Gravesham

The Civic Society

for Gravesend and Northfleet

32 storey tower for Gravesend Town Centre - the Edinburgh House Proposals

‘the proposal will be totally out of context with the prevailing character of the historic core Gravesend, it will have an overbearing affect, seriously affecting the character of ... this important part of the town centre...’ English Heritage

The Council has received (29th July 2008) a planning application for the development of a 32 storey Tower as part of a massive £150 million development scheme for Gravesend's Heritage Quarter. The scheme is broadly the same as that presented by the developers Edinburgh at the end of 2007.

Given the decisive public backlash against the proposal at that stage, Urban Gravesham thinks that it is unfortunate that Edinburgh House have continued to pursue this project. We will be working very hard to persuade councillors that this whole scheme is a misconceived, overscaled monster that will destroy the special character and economic wellbeing of Gravesend. We hope the Council will see sense and overturn this scheme.

The scheme is described in outline below.

skyscraper The Council has teamed up with Edinburgh House- the owners of St Georges Shopping centre to redevelop the Council's land holdings in the town centre of Gravesend.

The basic idea is to provide a new multi-storey car park adjacent to the St Georges Centre, thus freeing up the Market and West Street car parks for redevelopment. The Church's land holdings would also be involved.

The basic concept is to provide a new multi-storey car park adjacent to the St George’s Centre, thus freeing up the Market and West Street car parks for redevelopment. The redevelopment will expand St George’s Shopping Centre and provide additional town centre apartments. A new church hall will be built upon the green area between the church and shopping centre. The Council and Edinburgh House claim that the scheme would provide:

* 1000 new jobs (note - this is during construction - far fewer once complete)
* 600 apartments
* 1200 car parking spaces
* restaurants, shops
* hotel
* improved river walk
* new community facilities
* modern event areas

However, the scale of the scheme is massive. Buildings are on average 7 storeys high along West Street with an ‘iconic’ building of 32 storeys adjacent to the Clarendon Hotel. Other than new retail units it is not clear whether there will be any community benefits. The developers claim that massive apartment blocks are necessary to pay for the extension of the shopping centre. Urban Gravesham is also very concerned about the loss of green space in the town centre. The area round the church will be smaller and more urban than it is now and much of St Andrew’s Gardens will be occupied by the massive tower block.

Urban Gravesham supports the principle of development. We want to see better shopping and to see empty sites (the car parks) used in a better way. However, we do not want to see the town centre turned into yet another anonymous shopping centre surrounded by hi-rise development. Urban Gravesham think that the developers are simply too greedy and that the Council has been too soft in allowing this monstrous scheme to progress to a planning application stage.

The Planning Application: What's happening next?
You can look at the planning application online by clicking the Online Planning Application Search on the right and following the instructions. You will need the planning reference number 20080696.

The Council has 16 weeks to decide, via its regulatory board, whether to grant planning permission. We believe that the Council will need almost all of this time and that it is likely that the application will be decided towards the end of November.

In the meantime it is essential that everyone who is concerned about the scheme lets the Council know. In particular it is important that people write to or email the Council. The Council has a statutory duty to consider all the letters or emails it receives.

Help us defeat these proposals!
If you agree with us -don't complain- do something about it:

* Write or email the Development Control Manager at the Council – Clive Gilbert, Gravesham Council, Civic Centre, Windmill Street, Gravesend, DA12 1AU, or clive.gilbert@gravesham.gov.uk (THIS IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE). For advice on how the planning system works and how to write a letter - see the resources section on our website.

* Write to or email the Leader of the Council – Mike Snelling mike.snelling@gravesham.gov.uk, copy the letter to the Leader of the Labour Party - John Burden or email john.burden@gravesham.gov.uk.

* Write or email the riverside ward councillors Lee Croxton, Lyn Milner, and Richard Smith

* Help us collect signatures for a petition against the tower - we already have more than 1000 signatures but we need more. Volunteer to help collect the signatures with us, or collect your own signatures - download the petition form. Display a poster about the tower in the window of your house or other prominent place.

* e-mail us at Urban Gravesham and let us know what you have done. We want to monitor the strengh of opposition to the tower proposal.

* Last but not least - join Urban Gravesham! In return we will:
* keep you informed
* represent your views
* campaign against this development

In order to campaign we need to print and deliver leaflets and to hire venues for public meetings. We may need to appoint lawyers. We need money for our campaigns so that we can properly represent your views - hence our membership fee of £5. If you want to be more actively involved in our campaign - please let us know - we are looking for volunteers to help with collecting signatures, producing newsletters, and so on.

Membership forms can be downloaded from the home page of our website.
Please join us - together we can do more!

32 story skyscraper, leaving everything in front of it in a constant shadow.