Solum's plans are to regenerate the train station, including building a new entrance hall and ticket office, lifts, improved transport links, a public plaza and riverside walk, together with 115 new homes.
The application for the phased redevelopment of Twickenham Railway Station was recommended for approval last week, subject to the completion of a section 106 agreement and no adverse direction from London Mayor, Boris Johnson.
A section 106 agreement is a mechanism for councils to secure contributions to local infrastructure in connection with developments. In this case, Planning Officers have accepted that for viability reasons the scheme would not be able to fund the total amount of contributions commensurate with the scale of the proposals, according to the committee report (130-page / 2.07MB PDF).
The application incorporates a number of revisions to Solum's original plans. The height of the development has been decreased by seven storeys and the number of houses to be built reduced from 165 to 115.
“The gestation of this scheme was some time ago when the planning policy regime encouraged developers to think in terms of Twickenham as a potential high-rise zone. Policy changes since then, including approval of a site specific planning brief that encourages lower heights, have played a significant role in the original scheme being substantially modified," said Lord True, Leader of Richmond Council.
The reduction in house numbers has meant that there is now no provision for affordable housing. The planning committee report acknowledged this, but concluded that the associated benefits of the scheme outweigh the need for affordable housing.
"We have received a strong level of support from local people to the original proposals. However, the clear signal from the Council was that it was too high and they wanted more traditional architecture," said John Robinson, development manager with Solum Regeneration, a joint venture between station owner Network Rail and developer Kier Property.
The station could be ready for England's hosting of the Rugby World Cup in 2015, the developer said.
