Islington News: Boris Johnson | Farringdon

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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 26 September 2008

Artist’s impression of the proposed development

Mayor Boris’s planners back protesters’ fight to save trees

MAYOR of London Boris Johnson has dramatically thrown out plans to redevelop the Guardian newspaper office in Farringdon which would have involved axing much-loved trees.
The news this week has boosted hopes of campaigners, including many of the Guardian’s own environmental journalists, that the 10 distinctive London plane trees can be saved.
Greater London Authority (GLA) planners argued that plans for a curved, glazed building – two storeys higher than the seven floors already there – would “overwhelm its surroundings”. The newspaper is in the process of moving to new headquarters at King’s Cross.
A report by the GLA’s head of planning decisions, Giles Dolphin, said there was concern over the “impact of the proposal on the conservation area”, adding that “further justification should be given for the building size and scale as proposed resulting in the loss of pavement and loss of mature trees”.
Staff from the Arts Council, whose offices are nearby, and government watchdog the National Tree Council oppose the removal of the 70-year-old trees.
Meg Howarth, of the Save the Farringdon Road Planes campaign, was delighted that the GLA had intervened so soon in the row over the offices and shops development.
She said: “We’re not against any kind of development of the Guardian’s offices. All we say is: keep the trees because they are a wonderful and important attribute to an area devoid of greenery.
“It is now up to Islington Council’s south area committee to make a decision. We hope they follow the GLA and decide to keep the trees.”
The Guardian’s environment editor John Vidal and green columnist George Monbiot have objected to the plans, which they argue will destroy a vital green lung.
An application to bring forward the front line of the building by five metres will be considered by the council’s south area planning committee later this year.
But protesters fear redevelopment proposals could still go ahead because a similar plan submitted by the Guardian itself in 2005 was approved by Islington Council, although it never got off the drawing boards.
The council’s planning officers have told the developers to scale back the proposed nine-storey development, but have admitted privately they may not have powers to object to the felling of the trees.

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