When Dolphin Square was built in the deep depression of the nineteen thirties it was to become the largest apartment block in Europe. Its original developer was a New Yorker who wanted to bring a little bit of Manhattan to the Thames riverside. Sadly, he went broke but a brave English builder called Costain took over and completed the development in only two years.
Dolphin Square comprises 1,250 apartments on a site of only seven acres. By comparison, the neighbouring council estate of Churchill Gardens, which is listed and won many post-war planning awards, consists of only 1,500 homes on 37 acres. A development with the density of Dolphin Square would not in any normal planning circumstance be permitted today.
Therefore it comes as a surprise to learn that Westminster city council has not considered housing density in its deliberations over the planning application by Westbrook and nor has the London Mayor's Office given any consideration to their Planning Policy 11 which specifically deals with housing density.
Under this policy, Dolphin Square would be permitted a maximum 200-700 habitable rooms per hectare. Already, using the figures provided by Westbrook, it has a density of 922.46 rooms per hectare which would rise according to a Westminster planner who has just done the figures on enquiry to 970.53 habitable rooms per hectare, a figure likely to be an underestimate in that the base information has been provided by the developer.
Increasing the existing density further will have a profoundly damaging effect on the three adjoining Conservation areas of St George's Square, Dolphin Square and Churchill Gardens and will not protect the village character of the Pimlico community. We hope that Westminster city council and the Mayor of London will have regard to this new information, with all the other objections to this scheme, and refuse the Westbrook application.
Please continue to circulate this petition to all your friends and associates on social media. Also contact your councillors. The support of local residents in opposing the scheme is vital at this late stage in the planning process.