“We believe that the local residents have an excellent case for the current application to be refused permission” - Labour candidates for Kingston Town.
Labour urges University not to become “unwelcome neighbour”
The Kingston Town Labour Team has today called on Kingston University to withdraw their planning application for an eight storey building on the Hogsmill River in the heart of residential Kingston.
In a hand delivered letter, Kingston Labour has urged the Vice Chancellor and the leadership of Kingston University to withdraw their development plans, which have upset a great number of their immediate neighbours in the Middle Mill area, and work with the local community on a better proposal.
“We have listened to residents’ views on the doorsteps over several months and examined the proposals in detail. We are in full agreement with the strength of community feeling on this” said Kingston Town Labour candidate Keegan Hillier. “We believe the current proposal to be an overdevelopment that is out of keeping with its local surroundings by nature of its design, scale and massing. We also have serious concerns about the impact on the ecology and setting of the Hogsmill River from the planning proposal and the effect on residents from the demolition and construction work”.
“We believe that the local residents have an excellent case to see the current application refused permission by the local planning authority” agreed James Stanton, Labour candidate for Kingston Town.
Rather than continuing with what is certain to become an increasingly adversarial process, Kingston Labour has called on the University to take the initiative as community leaders and start to rebuild bridges with local residents. This has to start with the withdrawal of the current proposal and opening a new and meaningful dialogue with residents on the way forward.
Kingston Labour has expressed the hope that the leadership at the University will rethink its current approach.
Kingston Town Labour candidate Kezia Coleman said “The University is a key part of the Kingston community and has always put great emphasis on its role and impact locally. The last thing anyone wants is for Kingston University to become an unwelcome neighbour in its own community for years to come”.
The approach called for by the Kingston Labour Party is in line with its local manifesto commitment to “build communities, not skyscrapers”.
A copy of the letter and local manifesto can be viewed below.