Two apparently unconnected stories with a local (Barons Court) link.
Jonathan Guthrie, usually writing the Lex column in The FT, laments the decline of the swift population in England. This has been apparent not just in cities but in towns across the country – he cites Lewes in East Sussex. He says numbers are down by more than a half over twenty years to some 60,000 pairs.
In The Times today Brighton Beach House (a branch of the ubiquitous Soho House brand) is criticised for a plan to erect wrought iron gates two metres high. Local residents complain that the gates were not in the original planning application and will block their sea view. They also complain about unsightly air vents and outlets on the roofs of the two buildings – also not in the planning application.
There have been three instances locally where developers have either not kept their promises or tried to unilaterally change part of the planning approval retrospectively. First, the agents of the developer at 181 Talgarth Road undertook to install either nesting bricks or nesting boxes for swifts. Apparently this has not been carried out but I hope will be rectified. It’s a small thing and the swifts may not fancy nesting by the Hammersmith flyover but it’s a cheap gesture that will please many neighbours.
Secondly, when I went round The Riverside Studios as it was being rebuilt our guide showed us these big folding doors where scenery and equipment can be taken in and out.
He excitedly told us there would be a sound box with a button to press to hear the Daleks but there isn’t so you will have to listen to them here.
Thirdly, at Fulham Reach the developer undertook to retain a crack willow tree beside the river. There was a change of mind when it seemed the tree might block the river view from their flats. The full story is in a June 2018 post, Wind in the Willows. Thanks in large part to a friend who reads this website, the application to chop the willow down was withdrawn. He wrote a scathing critique on the application to the council. In the past five years there have been strong gales along the river toppling some trees but the doughty willow has withstood them all. It seems that all too often it falls to residents to call developers to account; a job that should fall to the council.