Can anyone shed any light on the building work happening in the grounds of St Mark's Church? We assumed it was something to do with vehicular access to the church, or maybe a car park extension, but today I see a fence has gone up. Another block of flats perchance?
St Mark's Church construction work
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Comments
Good hunting!
As one of the Churchwardens of St. Mark's Church, I can confirm that the building work you can currently see going on around the church is for a new vicarage that will be completed during 2010. If anyone is genuinely interested in knowing more about what is going on in both of our churches - St. Andrew's is in our parish as well - you are welcome to pop into St. Mark's church and pick up a leaflet which describes what we are planning to do and hoping to achieve. The church is usually open during the day on most days except Monday. Information can also be obtained from the parish office (open on most tuesday, wednesday and thursday afternoons) and from our website.
Hi Tim,
just to clarify, can you also confirm that the vicarage is being relocated to allow the construction of a five storey block of apartments on the adjoining old vicarage site.
I would have assumed that you, as a church warden, would have been aware of the recently approved plans for a five storey apartment block on your existing St Marks vicarage site.
But if you're not, here are the details of planning application 08/16113/OUT
http://maps.kingston.gov.uk/isis_main/planning/planning_summary.aspx?str...
As a fellow contributor has already stated, it is one ugly building. Architecturally, it has no redeeming featuires and offers little to the Surbiton townscape. In my opinion, as with so many of these apartment developments in Surbiton, the driving force is the maximisation of profit, with little benefit to the existing town or community.
Will the CoE schools be expanding to take the extra pupils that these developements deliver?
The church has recently re-marketed the site in question and is hopeful of completing a sale soon. Contrary to the thoughts of another contributor, the church has no intention of developing the site itself and will have no need to be 'bailed out' by anyone.
The church could really catch a cold with this one. St Raphaels did a great bit of business by selling it's site on Maple Road to the highest bidder. They got out with the money, and the developer can no longer afford to build on the site.
The St Marks situation is slightly different. It would appear that it is the church themselves who are developing the site, and they are likely to find that these flats are worth far less than they were hoping - partly because of the fall in property prices, partly because there are too many of these flats in Surbiton now.
The saving grace might be that a social housing organisation appears to be involved. These associations have very deep pockets, even in a recession, so will probably be able to bail the church out by buying the rest of the units if needed.
> Surbiton is probably housing 3 or 4 times as many people
> as the original infrastructure was designed for
The original infrastructure was designed?!
I assume that the consideration of planning applications doesn't include impacts on the railways, but I don't know it for a fact. (I wish it would.) Presumably it does include impacts on the roads and schools though, so obviously there's loads of capacity!
It's worse.
Not only do they not carry out any impact assessment of new developments on loading at Surbiton station, they actually use the proximity of Surbiton statuion as an excuse to build higher density developments here on the basis that we have good train links.
No mention that the good train links are at full capacity, nor that we have the most overcrowded train in the country.
Will these actually be built? There are still fences around the site on Maple Road, and the fences came down on the site in Portsmouth Road only to reveal a pikey hand car wash.
The developers cannot afford to build as they have overpaid for the sites. To break even, they need their flats to sell at more than the 2007 peak prices. A look in estate agents windows shows flats unsold at 20% below those peak prices.
The greed of the developers will send some of them to the wall. It is interesting that St Marks is the second church to profiteer out of the housing boom (the Maple Road site was sold by the catholic church on Portsmouth Road.)
I don't like to see people suffer, but the fact of the matter is Surbiton does not need any more flats. The constant building and conversion means that central Surbiton is probably housing 3 or 4 times as many people as the original infrastructure was designed for. At the same time, some of this infrastructure has been cut back - 20+ trains an hour left Surbiton at rush hour in the 1970's, now it is just 12.
Most elements of the infrastructure seem to be holding out, but this won't last for long with all of these extra developments going up.
Primary school infrastructure hasn't held out at all.
In Sep 2008, 60 last minute bulge places were needed.
In Sep 2009, 150 places were needed.
For Sep 2010, the council say they haven't any room to hold all temporary places needed, so many Surbiton children will be offered places in central kingston, or further afield in Malden Manor or Chessington.
The council say that these children will NOT be offered places in any new school that may be built on the Surbiton Hospital site, so the unlucky ones will face 7 years needless commuting - all because the planners failed to see the link between more housing and the need for more schools.
This is from the St Andrews and St Marks website http://www.surbitonchurch.org.uk/pew291109.pdf
What is happening in the churchyard?
Work on the new parsonage house for the parish has begun.
The site is now being made secure and work will progress over
the winter months. The project is planned to take about 9
months.
I think that relates to the St Andrews church site on Maple Road, rather than St Marks.
I think the building work at St Andrews is for a new Church Hall.
Yes,
but the parsonage is only getting rebuilt so that a FIVE storey block of flats can be built alongside.
See planning application 08/16113/OUT
http://maps.kingston.gov.uk/isis_main/planning/planning_summary.aspx?str...
"demolition of existing buildings and erection of a five storey block of flats comprising 4 x 1 bed units, 21 x 2 bed units and 7 x 3 bed units".
Wow! It is an ugly block as well isn't it? Could be the worst of the modern blocks in Surbiton yet. Interesting that it is the church themselves applying - there obviously hasn't been enough on the collection plate during the recession.
I think that the council have given up caring what Surbiton town centre looks like now. I used to blame lax planning laws in the 1960s-1970s for the worst of the monstrosities that have gone up, but actually this has probably been equalled in the modern era. The disgraceful size that the DST office block has been allowed to grow to is the last nail in the coffin.
I also notice that there was a letter from the Thames Valley Housing Association indicating that a lot of these units would be given over to social housing. I don't want to over generalise, but I suppose that those living in social housing are less likely to be getting the train into London each day. Some might say that they are more likely to cause trouble for their neighbours, but I couldn't possibly comment.
Yes, yet more flats.
Just what the most overcrowded train service in the country needs.
Not to mention the serious shortage of primary school places in Surbiton.
When will somebody stand up to the planners and stop this overdevelopment until the infrastucture catches up.
We'd better pray for extra capacity on the trains then...
I think it's a drive-through wedding chapel. Or actually, land sold on for more development no doubt.