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Conservation expert Heloise Brown and historian Peter Powell |
Round two in heritage battle
Charity threatens to move out if plans to demolish Victorian HQ are blocked again
ONE of Britain’s leading conservation groups is embroiled in a new battle with a charity over plans to demolish a Victorian building.
The fight centres on plans to develop a tenement building at the corner of Pentonville Road and King’s Cross Road, King’s Cross, which is used as the national HQ of Community Service Volunteers.
CSV chief executive Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, a former Islington Labour councillor, has warned that the charity will quit the borough unless planning permission is granted to demolish the “crumbling and antiquated” building and replace it with a modern nine-storey office.
But the Victorian Society is pressing Islington’s south area planning committee – which rejected plans for the development last year – to throw out an amended scheme due to be submitted shortly.
The society, founded by poet John Betjeman, believes the new building would damage the character of the King’s Cross conservation area, block out light and dominate the Grade II-listed Welsh Chapel next door.
The society’s conservation adviser, Heloise Brown, said: “We are asking Islington Council to again throw out the plans. They show no regard for the historical and architectural style of the area and would obliterate views of the Welsh Chapel.”
The existing buildings are locally listed and make a positive contribution to their surroundings, she added. “They are attractive assets to the area and reflect the largely 19th-century architecture that dominates in King’s Cross,” Ms Brown said. “It would be a great shame to see them go.”
Built originally for “respectable members of the lower middle classes”, the tenement has been offices for more than 40 years.
The society has the support of Islington historians Peter Powell and Mary Cosh. But CSV, which supervises 230,000 volunteers nationally, needs more space. It wants to build 2,880 square metres of office space and six homes. The original plan was for an 11-storey building with 21 homes.
English Heritage, campaigning group SAVE and Camden Council opposed earlier plans by CSV to redevelop the site.
Dame Elisabeth said the charity’s base close to King’s Cross station meant volunteers from across the country could visit with ease.
But the existing building has no proper disabled access.
She added: “We need affordable space and meeting rooms. It’s not just a straight office block transfer.”
The charity considered moving to the NatWest building opposite its existing office, but it was too expensive.
Dame Elisabeth warned that, as freehold land prices were so high, CSV would consider moving out of Islington. She said: “CSV trains 800 young people in Islington every year, provides volunteers for nine schools and mentors for 200 ‘looked-after’ children, and constructed the park in Davenant Road and Culpeper Garden.” |
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