The RNIB/Salvation Army building in Judd Street

• ALONG with other local residents of the King’s Cross neighbourhood I attended a Zoom webinar about the future of the RNIB / Salvation Army building in Judd Street.

Officers of the developers, regular and landscape architects, planning consultants and PR consultants presented their plans for this much-loved building.

I have now received the developers’ “Community Newsletter April 2022”. This four-page A4 spread with drawings, touts the future attractiveness of the development but it does not entirely accord with my memories of the meeting and the minutes circulated afterwards.

While local people understood the need for refurbishment of this landmark building, they were also troubled by the proposals and indeed in some cases by the vagueness of the proposals. Their concerns, with one exception, were not dealt with in the newsletter.

Residents were worried about:

— Demolition of 25 per cent of the building. This seems excessive for what is being presented as “restoring” a historic building and is mainly linked to the addition of extra floors and “stepping back” existing floors.

Such building works would cause congestion from heavy equipment in narrow streets, create a noise nuisance and result in loss of residents’ parking bays over the 18 months of construction.

— Addition of two extra floors, including peaked roof profiles (or in architect-speak a “crenellated silhouette”, “playful detailing” and “lively roofscapes”) which will extend the building (with plant) by a considerable height.

This key proposal was mentioned in passing as a “two storey extension – an attractive addition to a Bloomsbury building”.

The developers were unable to provide any estimate of the proposed massing and its consequent overshadowing of the homes of and loss of privacy for people living in nearby houses and flats; not to mention the noise impact of air source heat pumps on the roof.

— Addition of an outside terrace on the 4th floor of the south side. This glamorous facility seems unnecessary in a building used for offices and will needlessly expose people living in the nearby houses and flats to being stared at in their own homes and gardens, whatever “screening” is provided.

— Landscaping which, according to the drawings, involves incursions into pavements and streets in the public domain (“increase the width of the existing pavement and relocate existing cycle stands” and “use the space currently used as reserved parking bays associated with the Guide Dogs’ training centre”).

The developers made much of the positive impact of these improvements but have given few details of what is proposed to be going where and how much of it will be accessed from the public domain.

They have, however, in the only concession to residents’ reviews, promised not to install permanent benches (the focus for anti-social behaviour in the past).

— Provision of a café with public access in the ground floor of the building. While it seems reasonable to provide facilities for people working in the building, Judd Street already has a plethora of cafés all taking advantage (and more) of that part of the pavement within their curtilage.

Residents have a long history of opposition to encroachment onto the public footpath and have a history of complaints to Camden Council to prove this).

In short the lesson of this newsletter and the dynamics of consultation is… beware.

Beware developers who are in it to make a profit but are presenting themselves as doing us all a favour.

Beware the use of the “Knowledge Quarter” which has been wished upon residents without consent, as a Trojan horse, to justify anything that developers want (mainly tower blocks and extra floors) and Camden can get away with allowing.

Beware of consultations that are in name only and will override what local people love and live with for the price of some Yorkstone paving and raised flower beds.

So, inform yourselves, make your views known as fully as possible, insist on being consulted meaningfully and elect councillors who know and respect your views and will represent them during the planning process.

META ZIMMECK
Judd Street, WC1