There’s still time for an uplifting design

I agree 100 per cent with the comments of Mr Burgess (‘Sleepwalking’ into blandness?, June 20).

Surely we can do better than something which has the drab appearance and oppressive atmosphere reminiscent of the old London City dock warehouses before they were developed.

There is a once-in-a-multi-generational opportunity to create something that we and future generations can enjoy and be proud of.

Sites of this size and location are rare and can take 20 years or more to assemble. They should be treated as a precious things.

Unlike the terrible developments of the 60s, we have the appropriate architectural talent, modern materials and building techniques with which to create an amazing, attractive and uplifting town centre, sensitive to the environment and times in which we live.

It seems that the current scheme is a dark, heavy, monochrome jumble of unattractively proportioned boxes that look as if they were designed by an accountant.

This scheme may make the fastest buck for everyone today, but any experienced and wise investor or developer with longer horizons will know that the value of buildings of good quality construction and an attractive environment will trump short term gains, even over a relatively short time and especially in a recession.

They command a premium in value and still attract buyers when times are bad and sales are scarce, which actually reduces the development risk.

The difficulty is that in our democratic planning system, building design is controlled by planners, who are important but not artists or designers, and who can be overridden by a lay committee who also are unlikely to possess these skills.

The developers may initially try to produce the most attractive scheme but in the end are usually constrained by financial considerations and time, and so end up by submitting, and the planners accepting, a compromise, resulting in the proverbial committee-designed horse.

Having said all this, it is still not too late to think again.

The development will be here long after the current players have left the scene.

The developers may squeal but in practice may not be that eager to start development, bearing in mind these uncertain times.

ROBERT MANDEVILLE

Cookham Dean