WE NOW HAVE A CUBE – NO LONGER A POLE!

Please help us stop yet another unsuitable development in the heart of Paddington. Please sign our new petition: http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-paddington-cube-historic-london-townscape-under-unprecedented-threat After our magnificent collective success in forcing the 72-storey Pole to be withdrawn in early 2016, we are now faced with a new, once again totally inappropriate proposal for this prestigious and precious site, Renzo Piano’s most recent creation. The glass and steel Paddington “Cube” is totally incongruous in the historic setting of Grade I Paddington Station. Yes – it is shorter than the “Pole”, but 19 storeys still dwarfs the surrounding buildings, where 6 storeys is the norm. The new building might have less impact on the skyline of London, but is still clearly GREEDY, AND WOULD ALTER FOREVER THE CHARACTER OF THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD. In a meeting on 6th December, Westminster City Council approved the planning application for the Cube, despite strong objections from Historic England, the Victorian Society and SAVE Britain’s Heritage, local residents groups and residents themselves. Both St Mary’s Hospital and the London Ambulance Service objected to the proposals to change the ambulance route to the hospital, due to concerns about delays in bringing critical cases to A&E. In approving the development, Westminster Council over-rode their own policies on tall buildings and disregarded all Conservation Area requirements; their excuse is that the public benefits of improved transport connectivity below ground outweigh the harm caused to the historic setting by this monstrously inappropriate intrusion. This is not true and should be allowed to happen. This is a blatant case of over-development permitted purely for the financial gain of the Borough: a developer free-for-all, that, if allowed to go forward, will open the floodgates for further unsympathetic developments. We urge you to SIGN THE PETITION by SAVE Britain’s Heritage to the Secretary of State to ask him to “call in” and determine the application himself.