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Fighting Developers at 61-65 Nightingale Road
A remakable
community spirit is alive and well in Rickmansworth!
No. 61 is an imposing, three story villa with a magnificent front and rear
garden to match and is, to my mind, one of the most beautiful houses in Rickmansworth.
If redevelopment were allowed to take place the house would lose its unique
outlook and very likely itself become ripe for demolition in the eyes of the
developers.
Since Lyn Chapman and I wrote the letter, reproduced below, to the Editor of
the Watford Observer on 2nd December about the above site, I can confirm that
there is an extremely bulky file that contains an extraordinary number of letters
and emails of residents’ protestations sent both to the Planning Inspectorate
and to TRDC Planning Department. Regarding the last application submitted just
before Christmas, another enormous batch of letters was received (219) and this
remarkable show of solidarity is particularly worthy in view of everyone’s
pressing responsibilities at the most hectic time of year.
2nd December, 2005
‘Dear Editor,
We write with regard to an 8-year marathon of onslaught by developers on the
site of 61-65 Nightingale Road as we thought your readers would like to know,
and feel encouraged, by the remarkable community spirit that is still alive
and kicking in Rickmansworth.
Opening the floodgates to rapacious, back land development anywhere in our town
is an ever-present risk. But this is old news to Rickmansworth residents, particularly
to those living in and around Nightingale Road and the Cedars Estate. A recent
planning application for 3 blocks of 22 flats, shoehorned on a site of a mere
4,400 sq. m., was to result in a recent Public Hearing. This was withdrawn by
the Appellants, Cairnpark Properties Ltd., in a humiliating climb-down due to
an outcry of letters and emails by anxious residents. Literally hundreds of
these letters landed on the desk of the Secretary of State’s Planning
Inspectorate in Bristol.
No wonder the Appellants decided that they couldn’t face the prospect
of a full Public Hearing – especially one such as this! With a distinctive
show of immense public outrage, the prospect of incurring large, legal expenses
and the likelihood of failure at the end of it could not have been an attractive
proposition to Cairnpark Properties.
Nothing is left to chance though, and the reputation of determined Rickmansworth
residents lies in their united and indefatigable commitment to fighting such
invasive and destructive infill developments. Their commitment is to maintain
the principle of ‘one house per plot’ in this and similar areas
within the locality in their bid to retain the original character and street
scene of the district.
But, within a week of their climb-down, Cairnpark Properties have slapped in
another unacceptable planning application comprising a mixture of detached and
town house dwellings with accommodation for 70 people on that self same 4,400
sq. m. site.
So now, just before Christmas, and facing the site’s 7th application,
with its history of 5 planning applications and 2 Public Hearings, the spirit
and determination to preserve what is beautiful remains undeterred.’ Although
our letter refers to ‘an 8-year marathon’ it may not be generally
known that the battle against redevelopment of this site has actually been the
object of developers’ desires for far longer; the history of numerous
proposals for development of this site goes back some twenty years. TRDC has
now initiated a Conservation Order to be placed over this stretch of Nightingale
Road and this, together with a high level of disapproval that has been voiced
by Rickmansworth residents, will send a clear message to all concerned that
any back-land, high density development at this site, or indeed in Nightingale
Road or the Cedars Estate, will never be acceptable.
This is a matter of importance to all who live in and around the Cedars Estate
and it is generally hoped that the TRDC’s detailed reasons for refusal
will be understood and accepted now so that the site will be permanently safeguarded.
Irene East (article reprinted from the Spring 2006 issue of INDEPENDENCE) 20th April 2006
The views on this website are those of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the R&DRA Committee as a whole.