• ON Thursday March 22, despite a recommendation by Camden’s planning officers, the councillors on the planning committee backed local residents in refusing approval for the redevelopment of Templar House in High Holborn.

The application proposed replacing the existing office building with a two-part development – a new 12-storey commercial building on High Holborn and a 15-storey residential building, accessed from a very narrow street to the rear.

Of 52 residential units (48 originally projected), only four would be designated “affordable housing”, a shameful number.

While reducing storey height on High Holborn (from 14 to 12), the revised design has more than doubled the existing height of seven storeys on Eagle Street to 15 storeys, showing an utter lack of concern for neighbouring residents in Red Lion Square and surrounding streets particularly those living opposite in Beckley, 47-51 Eagle Street.

Local residents disputed the developer’s claim that the proposed building would not be unduly prominent, suggesting that photographic views from Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Gray’s Inn and Red Lion Square had been manipulated to minimise the impact on the historic surrounding area.

They argued that the massing, density, and height of this proposed development was simply not acceptable. Officers contended that any loss of light to neighbouring residential properties would be outweighed by the merits of the additional commercial and residential space. The majority of the planning committee disagreed and the application was refused.

However, this is probably not the end of the battle to ensure that redevelopment of this key High Holborn site does not cast an enduring blight on the surrounding neighbourhood.

PATRICIA WAGER
Chair, Red Lion Tenants’ & Residents’ Association