Looming on the hill: tall building worry
An organisation dedicated to safeguarding the beauty of Cookham has called the Royal Borough council ‘out of order’ for a document that it feels could change the face of the village for good.
The Building Heights and Tall Building Draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) sets out the circumstances in which tall buildings can be erected in different areas of the Borough.
A public consultation ran for six weeks and ended on October 11, with comments now being reviewed to shape a final version of the SPD.
The document has received criticism from the Cookham Society, as it proposes the site around Cookham railway station as a possible location
for tall buildings.
What counts as a tall building depends on the average height of what is already there – known as the context height.
In Cookham, that would be three storeys or more, as buildings generally do not get higher than two.
Tom Denniford, chairman of the Cookham Society, says the society finds the document ‘really rather worrying’.
“It completely ignores local topography – the land around Cookham Station is on a slope,” he said.
“The site is quite unsuitable for tall buildings.”
According to the draft SPD, all proposed developments (which will be considered on their individual merits) must consider the elevation of the land.
Tom added that the borough has ‘ignored the advice of its own consultants’, who said the Cookham Village Conservation Area would be adversely affected by tall buildings.
The society also has concerns that the context height of Cookham could change from two storeys to three.
Since there are ‘virtually no three-storey buildings’ in the area, this would mean ‘a complete change in its ambiance’, the society believes.
“[Three storeys] is quite
inappropriate for a village setting,” Tom said.
Further, the society believes that the Borough has gone against Government guidance by introducing policy as part of an SPD, rather than a local or neighbourhood plan.
“We think the borough is out of order,” said Tom.
The society has argued that the document should either be withdrawn – or that all references to the Cookham station idea be removed.
A spokesman for the Royal Borough said: “The draft states there is potential for a single larger building of three storeys to mark the local centre and station node at Cookham, however no decisions have yet been made.
“We are carefully reviewing all consultation responses, including from the Cookham Society, to help finalise the document, which is likely to be early next year.”