Residents have vow to stop Taylor McWilliams’s scheme to develop a site that looms over the famous Electric Avenue street market, with Victorian Society support.
… fierce opposition has been joined by Historic England and the Victorian Society…
… proposal no longer had merit in a post-Covid future…
…opportunity to respond to what is wanted by the local community…
The Guardian writes:
The outcome of the fight may help shape London’s future skyline. In one corner is a Texan millionaire DJ and property developer who has put forward plans for a 20-storey office block in Brixton, next to a conservation area and the district’s famous Electric Avenue.
Taylor McWilliams’s property company Hondo, which owns most of Brixton market, claims the proposal will “deliver” 2,000 jobs in the area and generate £2.8m every year for the local economy.
In the other corner is a group of residents whose fierce opposition has been joined by Historic England and the Victorian Society, which this month wrote to the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, saying the proposal no longer had merit in a post-Covid future where more people would be working from home….
“This area of Brixton has avoided the intensive development which has blighted many of London’s historic urban centres,” said Olivia Stockdale, conservation adviser for the society….”
There were reports that the development had already been approved by the mayor. An email was circulated that appeared to confirm Khan had given the go-ahead. But this was later attributed to an administrative error….
Joe O’Donnell, Victorian Society director, called on Khan to consider whether London needed more office space. “This is an opportunity to respond to what is wanted by the local community….
“A thorough research into the character and history of Brixton from both an architectural and a cultural point of view allowed us to propose a scheme which is at the same time innovative and contextual.” [Hondo said]
