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Sir Terry Farrell |
‘KX plans too big to be left to Town Hall’
Top architect says Mayor Ken should have had say
INTERNATIONALLY-renowned architect Sir Terry Farrell believes a decision on the King’s Cross redevelopment should not have been left solely to Camden councillors.
The architect, speaking exclusively to the New Journal, said the £2 billion development on the 58-acre site behind King’s Cross and St Pancras stations should have been referred to Mayor of London Ken Livingstone – and that the controversial scheme was an example of the flawed nature of planning decisions.
He argued that a project of this size is too important to be decided solely by councillors, who may not have time to study hefty and complicated planning documents.
Sir Terry has worked on major design projects throughout the world, and is currently re-designing large swathes of Euston Road to improve traffic flow and make it more pedestrian friendly.
He is behind an ambitious scheme to create a walkway from Primrose Hill to the South Bank and has put forward plans to redesign London Zoo.
Sir Terry said: “All big schemes in London must be decided by the mayor, and not the local authority. These schemes must be decided in the context of what is good for London, not just one part of it.
“King’s Cross goes even further – what happens here will not just affect London, but has important repercussions for Britain as a whole. For this reason, the decision cannot be solely dependent on councillors. This does not happen anywhere else in the world.
“How can King’s Cross be a Camden issue alone? You need to strengthen the mayor’s powers as much as possible.”
But he added that he understood that a decision on the site could not be delayed for much longer. Sir Terry said: “This has been going on for 20 years now. All due process has been done, people have had their say, and the planners have to think about how they are going to please the most number of people possible.”
He said that, although the threatened Culross and Stanley Victorian buildings were good examples of their type, they should not simply be preserved because of their age.
Sir Terry said: “I am a great believer in conservation and taking into account our history. But you have to be able to build for a metropolis to thrive. There are many people who want to live in central London but can’t. This could provide new homes for so many people, and that means getting on with the job.”
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