Our Association has just been notified by Spelthorne Council of the application by Elmbridge Council to press ahead with the deeply unpopuIar Excel Centre riverside development at Waterside Drive, Walton. Spelthorne Planning Office, as statutory consultees, has undertaken to alert residents in Parke Road and those at the most western end of Thames Street. Representations may be completed online with regard to two applications, (Refs: 2015/0949 & 2015/0868) may be viewed via the Elmbridge Council website: http://www.elmbridge.gov.uk/planning/
A local resident of Wheatley's Ait which, though on the Sunbury side of the river and by a strange anomaly actually within Elmbridge Borough, has made the following submission in respect of application 2015/0949:
'As an Elmbridge resident bordering the proposed development on the riverside, I have serious concerns regarding the amount of light and noise pollution that this complex in its proposed form will generate on a daily basis. Noise travels very easily across water and the proposal does not have adequate screening to minimise this. I would like the proposed chain fencing that borders the running track on the riverside to be replaced with acoustic screening. I would also like to see additional natural screening in the form of high evergreen trees and shrubs along the river border to also help minimise the effects of noise and light pollution on local residents'.
With regard to application 2015/0868, in which the developer argues against the need for a full Environmental Impact Assessment, the resident has submitted this representation:
'I do not agree with the applicant’s opinion that an Environmental Impact Assessment is not required. The proposed development does fall within a Schedule 2 Development. There will be a significant likelihood of environmental effects both during the building of the development and the use of the development. The planned development is over 28 times larger than the criteria of .5ha. It is also over a large landfill site with a high probability of contaminates being disturbed.
The proposed development is on the border of the River Thames and the border between Elmbridge and Spelthorne with a high probability of noise and light pollution effecting local residents and visitors for the lifetime of the development. An Environmental Impact Assessment needs to be undertaken to determine what safeguards need to be in place to mitigate these effects’.
