Tower block

Following notice something more than a year ago at reference 1, an application to develop this site is now with the Epsom planning people, from whom I cannot share any of the pictures and plans, as their usually helpful system is down.

However, I can report while the developer has not tried to prolong the retail life of this site, which is a good thing, he has put in a residential proposal for a block which peaks at 13 storeys, far more than anything else in the vicinity, or indeed, as far as I know, in the borough.

On the grounds that I do not particularly want to live in a dormitory for high earners who work in town, I do believe in the need for more and more affordable accommodation in the borough, with this proposal at least ticking the first of those two boxes - and perhaps, indirectly, ticking the second. So I was inclined to be lenient. While BH was rather angry: what is the point of more accommodation if you spoil the look and feel of the borough along the way? We don't want to become another Sutton. Fortunately, as it happens, the proposal has already attracted a great deal of comment, some learned and mostly (I imagine) opposed - so the planning committee have plenty to bite on and there is no need for us to resolve this particular family squabble to chip in.

PS: note the granite stone blocks middle right, holding up the railway embankment, which I was once told were a relic of a builder's yard on the site, a wall which once included large cupboards let into spaces between blocks. Note also the unusual decoration of the gable end, decoration which qualifies the building as heritage.

Reference 1: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/05/development-opportunity.html.