2nd Virtual Community Meeting:

Meeting Summary 28/09/2021

Purpose of Meeting:

This was a follow-up meeting to our first community meeting held virtually on 09/08/2021. We discussed the purpose of the Battersea Untangled group and held an open discussion on the Battersea Design & Tech Quarter.

Items Discussed:

What is Battersea Untangled?

Battersea Untangled (BU) was formed by local residents to engage with the Council and developers on issues related to local development—Specifically in relation to the BDTQ. Battersea Untangled strives to present the views of the community and work with all parties to ensure that community benefits and improvements are at the core of any new development.

BU is not anti-development. Our intention is to be as involved as possible at all stages of development and provide a platform for local voices to be heard. In order to assemble the voice of the community we need to gain critical mass, we need your involvement, we need to hear your voice.

Battersea Design & Technology Quarter

The Battersea Design & Technology Quarter (BDTQ) is a Wandsworth initiative to promote development within 3 zones spanning from Battersea Park road to silverthorne Road; 1-Havelock Terrace (immediately adjacent to the new tube station as part of the Northern Line Extension), 2-Ingate Place (including the 1903 Hamptons Storage building) and 3-Silverthorne Road (Battersea Studies & Bidfood).

The BDTQ sits within the Strategic Industrial Location land use designation (SIL) meaning the predominant permitted use will be industrial related. The BDTQ acknowledges this and indicates light industrial uses at ground floor while permitting “creative Industries” to occupy upper floors.

The 3 zones of the BDTQ are currently cul-de-sac configurations and the BDTQ suggest a pedestrian link to connect the 3 zones which we applaud. However, no real detailed information as how these connections would be made are available at this time.

Of the 3 zones, we see Silverthorne Road as being the most problematic. The BDTQ at this stage does not address issues pertinent to the community such as:

• HGV circulation and traffic patterns.

• Concrete plant configuration, limiting concrete lorry routes.

• Understanding how the current bus depot will function.

• Collaboration and consultation amongst landowners.

Policy without People in Mind

Our concern is that the BDTQ is currently a policy driven initiative currently void of vision. As a community we are concerned that policy without vision will fail to create people oriented spaces nor provide a coherent public realm that is required to link the three disconnected sites that form the study area.

Lack of Public Engagement

The Wandsworth-lead BDTQ team have engaged with land owners within the study area and have had one meeting with BU at our request. The Draft Local plan is accessible and we would suggest you please go online and comment. The link to the Draft Local Plan documents is here.

To be informed by Wandsworth on the Draft local Plan, or comment, please do so by writing to: planningpolicy@wandsworth.gov.uk

Next Steps

We will be meeting again in November to discuss further the BDTQ, assemble comments from the community and organise ourselves.

Please reach out to neighbours who you feel would want a say in this process and encourage them to sign up to our mailing list!