Ugly green giant! Storm over the hanging gardens of Hemel
DRAPED in greenery, these flats have a three-acre rooftop ‘sky garden’ with tennis court, on-site gym, wine bar, library, playschool and robot- controlled car parking, and they’re eco-friendly too.
It sounds like a dream on paper – but that’s exactly where residents near the proposed site want it to stay.
They say the 14- storey building with 435 homes and office space is an ‘oversized monstrosity’.
Despite its green credentials as a ‘zero emission, net carbon positive, sustainable’ development, opponents argue it is ‘not in keeping with the area’.
Since plans for the scheme in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, were submitted by Lumiere Developments Ltd, 68 of the 69 responses have been to object to it, while one was neutral.
One objector to ‘ Boxmoor Forest’, which is named after a green space it would overlook, said: ‘ The design is laughable. It is not at all in keeping with the area and dwarfs nearby properties. The design is unattractive – covering it in greenery doesn’t fool anyone.’
Another called it ‘ an oversized monstrosity aimed solely at lining the pockets of the developer with no consideration given to the residents of Boxmoor or the beautiful moor over which it will cast an ugly shadow. Aesthetically, it is totally out of sync with the local area and will serve to exacerbate the existing congestion.’ A third attacked it for being an ‘ugly eyesore’, adding: ‘It will cause loss of light and privacy to existing properties which it will tower over.’
Situated next to the town’s railway station, Boxmoor Forest would transform a brownfield site used by a Kwik Fit garage and a Mitsubishi showroom.
Energy for the 191 studio apartments, 179 one-bedroom and 65 two-bedroom flats would come from solar roof panels, an on-site geothermal plant and a biomass boiler that incinerates waste from the three floors of offices. Lighting would be provided by LEDs and ‘sun pipes’, which reflect light from the roof using fibre optic glass tubes. Heat could be retained by triple glazing, and wall insulation would be enhanced by the ‘facade of plant and soil biofilters improving surrounding air quality and trapping water and air’.
Underground bays for 693 cars come with an automatic conveyor and robotic parking to reduce CO2 emissions. There are also 25 communal electric cars and 454 bicycle spaces.
Yet no one seemed in favour when approached by the Daily Mail yesterday. Pauline Hughes, a project manager at an engineering firm, said: ‘They have the nerve to label it Boxmoor. It’s a tower block opposite a village moor.’
Her husband Patrick, 70, a company director, said: ‘They are just going to develop it and go away
‘No consideration for the residents’
and leave it for us to live with.’ Sue Lancashire, 59, said: ‘ The town is overpopulated. There doesn’t need to be a new build.’
It is not known how much flats at Boxmoor Forest would cost, but apartments at The Beacon, another green development in the town designed by Lumiere, ranged from £ 217,000 for a studio to £524,000 for three bedrooms.
Lumiere Developments said: ‘We strongly believe that overall benefits of this scheme in terms of housing and amenities will outweigh any perceived negatives that the people have in relation to this development.’