Railway Rise - more demolition?

[chazzle]

In an earlier thread people were asking about the plans for the land by East Dulwich Station where the old Garden Centre was. Things have now moved on to the next stage, with an application to demolish two of the Victorian Railway Cottages opposite:

APPLICATION FOR FULL PLANNING PERMISSION

Application number: 15/AP/0192

Address: 2-3 RAILWAY RISE, LONDON, SE22 8EE

Proposal: Demolition and redevelopment of 2&3 Railway Rise to create 135 sqm of ground floor commercial space (use classes A1, A2, A3 and B1(a)) together with 5x2 bed residential units across three upper storeys above (1st, 2nd & 3rd), together with associated amenity, waste, recycling, cycle storage and other facilities.

[healey]

If this isn't thrown out in short order it should be. I'd assumed they were still private residences.

[James Barber]

Cllr Rosie Shimell and I will ask for this planning applicatino to be called-in and decided by a planning committee if officers are minded to grant planning permission.

[first mate]

This would be a shame. Especially when the huge, blue building that is designated commercial space ( next to Dulwich leisure centre) is allegedly to be torn down and made into high density flats. What a farce.

This latest application will no doubt have been made by a developer who has no interest in the fabric, character or structure of East Dulwich, other than how it can best be ripped up and turned into a meaty profit for himself and his investors. Baaaagh.

There has to be some overview of development or ED will be homogenised and characterless before we know it.

[steveo]

Apart from the pubs and the prefab, there are very few attractive buildings between the station, those cottages, and Dulwich Library.

It would be a massive shame to lose any of them and I'm glad you're on it James

[worldwiser]

Can't find any trace of this application on Southwark's site. Any chance you can post a link? I do know you don't have to own a property to submit a planning application..

[Louisa]

Those beautiful buildings are indeed of local architectural merit and help retain the suburban feel to the area. To lose them to cram more residential and commercial space into this block would be a tragedy.

Louisa.

[DulwichFox]

Agree with Louisa.

Looking at that picture, it would be criminal damage to demolish them..

Why are they not listed. ??

DulwichFox

[Laur]

Agree with Louisa & DulwichFox.

Why should people with excess money who probably have no historic links with Dulwich come in and demolish the area with new builds!

[ernesto]

hate to be the voice of dissent, but they are a bog standard railway cottages that seem to exist all over London- why should these 2 be listed ?

[Jeremy]

I agree that they're fairly bog standard... not architectural gems... but nevertheless, I think it's a great shame to tear down london's period housing.

[DulwichFox]

Its just Foxy living in the past...

Just pull them down.. build some flats with another Pizza outlet below

and everyone will be happy.

To many people trying and succeeding in destroying what's left of our area.

DulwichFox

[steveo]

You love to be the voice of dissent

[Loz]

ernesto Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> hate to be the voice of dissent, but they are a bog standard railway cottages that seem to exist

> all over London- why should these 2 be listed ?

I don't think they deserve to be listed, but they definitely deserve to be saved.

[DulwichFox]

Loz Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> ernesto Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > hate to be the voice of dissent, but they are a

> bog standard railway cottages that seem to exist

> > all over London- why should these 2 be listed ?

>

> I don't think they deserve to be listed, but they

> definitely deserve to be saved.

How do we save them without having them listed. I'm not at all familiar with such regulations.

DulwichFox

[nxjen]

I agree with Ernesto, though quaint, there's nothing special about them and wouldn't stand any chance of being listed. Take a walk around East Dulwich and you'll see there's enough period housing to satisfy the most fervent John Betjeman disciple, in fact when I first moved into the area I found the ubiquitous bay windowed terraces incredibly dull. Of course, it depends on what the proposed new build will be, the plans don't appear to be online yet. What's intriguing though is the proposal only covers 2 of the 3 cottages - does this mean the one closest to Grove Vale is remaining?

[Loz]

first mate Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> This would be a shame. Especially when the huge, blue building that is designated commercial space

> ( next to Dulwich leisure centre) is allegedly to be torn down and made into high density flats.

> What a farce.

I'm sorry, but I see no value whatsoever in that commercial building. And, lets face it, London needs (much) more housing. Great leap forward, IMHO.

[Alan Medic]

I thought there was going to be a bigger better library on that site. Am I wrong?

[nxjen]

That's going to be on the old garden centre site. This application is about the row of cottages opposite.

[ironjawcannon]

I love those cottages , they have a great feel about them. If you need more space why not try to purchase the building supply place further up the road adjacent to the ex- garden centre?

[chazzle]

James - Thank you. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything

worldwiser - I have only the reference above, which came by letter. I'm chasing this up with Southwark and the developer's representatives.

ernesto - Yes they are bog standard railway cottages, because they were (sturdily) constructed for the workers. They were built in 1866 and pre-date most of the surroundings. However, English Heritage did agree with you, in principle, and said they didn't merit listing (along with the station). Interestingly North Dulwich Station is listed. East Dulwich has very few listed buildings.

nxjen - The 'bay-windowed terraces' may (or may not) be boring. These don't have bay windows. (See above) The property developer owns two of the three cottages.

ironjawcannon - From hearsay, I think that land further up may be for sale and would be a huge site.

[DaveR]

I also can't find the application on Southwark website, either using the application no. above, or searching for Railway Rise.

I agree that architecturally the houses are unexceptional, but the site is a prominent one so you would want any new-build to be a really good one, whereas I suspect the developer wants to build a bland (cheap) box. Also, I'd generally be sympathetic to mixed commercial/residential development but this application is obviously completely speculative re future use, hence the application for A1/2/3 and B1(a) i.e. any non-industrial use.

[Jenny1]

Even though these houses are not listed I think they are particularly characterful. They're unusual for the area - perhaps because (as Chazzle states) they were built in 1866 - which is twenty years or so earlier than the vast majority of the development of the area.

It would - in my view - be a great shame to lose this particular aspect of the history of East Dulwich.

[BrandNewGuy]

And it's easy to say that any particular buildings are 'nothing special', but then, bit by bit, they disappear. Then they do become 'special'. It's why we have societies dedicated to 70s and 80s architecture and so on. They don't want to preserve everything, they just don't want it all destroyed because it's 'nothing special'.

[ednewmy]

Seeing these ripped down would be very sad. They add a lovely character to the place when you emerge from the station. There's enough redevelopment going on across the city as it is, erode enough of the "insignificant" places away and you're left with nothing but homogenised blandness. No thanks.