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Artist’s impression of the development |
Towers ‘will shatter park as city refuge’
But neighbours welcome skyscrapers
THREE skyscrapers are to be built in Euston despite fears they will tower over Regent’s Park.
The development, at the corner of Hampstead Road and Euston Road, was approved by the Town Hall’s planning committee on Thursday. It will house luxury flats and offices, some for local groups, as well as a smaller block of cheaper flats.
Developer British Land fell just short of a planning target that half of the development should be made up of affordable housing, but agreed to spend £3 million on improvements to Euston Road and to hand community groups a further £700,000.
The £10 million scheme has been welcomed by residents, including members of West Euston Partnership (WEP), a neighbourhood regeneration project, who believe it will liven up the area by bringing in more social housing and by promising peppercorn rents for arts and drama charities.
But the three towers – one of which will be a block of exclusive flats – will change the skyline as seen from Regent’s Park. In a written objection to planners, Royal Parks manager Imran Shah said: “The design would immediately shatter any feelings of refuge and separation from the great metropolis.”
And Sue Neve, secretary of Regent’s Park Conservation Area Advisory Committee, added: “Because of the bulk and height of this huge block, it will loom above all the existing buildings and block out views of the park.”
Planning officers claimed it was too late to protect views from the park because another block, the 37-storey Euston Tower, had been allowed to go up in the 1970s. Liberal Democrat councillor Flick Rea, who supported the development, said: “I still worry about the view from Regent’s Park. It’s too late to do anything about that now. Other than that it’s a fantastically good development.”
Her colleague, Lib Dem councillor David Abrahams, added: “The Euston Tower is an isolated stump. This will considerably improve it by relating it to its surroundings.” |
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