The Friends of Brompton Cemetery

The Friends of Brompton Cemetery, Brompton Road, London SW10 7UG


Artist's impression of the buildings proposed to face the north-western quadrant of Brompton Cemetery www.myearlscourt.com/seagrave-road	Artist's impression of the proposed development, with Earls Court 2 to the north and Brompton Cemetery to the east www.capitalandcounties.com

The Friends of Brompton Cemetery strongly object to the Planning Application for Seagrave Road, Earls Court. With the impending redevelopment of the Earls Court exhibition complex to create new offices, housing and shops, the site of the car park facing Earls Court 2 is to be transformed into a high-density housing development, immediately adjacent to historic Brompton Cemetery.

The Friends therefore urge everyone with an interest in Brompton Cemetery to object to this proposal, in writing, online or by e-mail. As so often, information about this scheme was late and slow in coming, and the consultation period is short: please take action before the deadline of 23 September 2011.

To comment online, view the proposal and download key documents: www.lbhf.gov.uk/seagraveroad

To download the Friends' briefing notes and recommendations on the Seagrave Road Planning Application, click here.

To download an A5 poster / flyer / mailshot insert, click here.

To download a draft letter in Word, click here – please remember to insert your own name and address. We warmly recommend that you rephrase the letter, and add arguments of your own, to give this campaign more impact. You may also wish to use this template to phrase an message for posting online or by e-mail to the addresses below.

To visit the developer's site, download a summary and discuss online: www.myearlscourt.com/seagrave-road

To view the printed documents: Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, London W6 9JU, Monday to Friday, 9.00-17.00

To comment on the proposal in writing:
Mr. John Sanchez, Deputy Team Leader (Earls Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area), Development Management Service, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension, King Street, London W6 9JU

You may also consider writing to Members of Parliament, local councillors and members of the London Assembly. Just type in your postcode on www.writetothem.com to identify your elected representatives and write to them directly online; the postcode for Seagrave Road is SW6 1RP.

The cemetery lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), the Seagrave Road site in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF).


Aerial view of the present Seagrave Road site, Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton Station, Earls Court 2 exhibition centre and the Empress State Building	Artist's impression of the proposed development, with Buildings A to D to face the western side of Brompton Cemetery.
The Planning Application from Capco, owners of the Earls Court and Olympia exhibition centres, seeks to develop eight large buildings on the Seagrave Road site, to accommodate 808 residential units. This would include a virtual wall of six- to eight-storey blocks, and a 16-storey tower, directly adjacent to historic Brompton cemetery. The development will overlook a large area of the cemetery, where burials are still being conducted, and destroy the fine western vista which is now, rarely for this area, relatively free of buildings.	While we agree that the redevelopment of the site offers many benefits, the Friends of Brompton Cemetery strongly object to the scale of the present plan. We feel that the proposed buildings are too tall, too many, and too close to the cemetery. We would like the developers to reconfigure the plan, to lower both the density and height of the units, and move them back from the railway line and cemetery.
Brompton Cemetery, established in 1840 as the fifth of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ 19th Century garden cemeteries, is Grade I Listed in the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and a Grade I List nature conservancy area within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Its protection is a matter of international concern.	Brompton is a working cemetery with recent interments, as well as the graves of some 205,000 souls, great and good, humble and meek. It is a place of quiet, contemplation and gentle recreation for the many people who walk and cycle through the grounds every day. In this context – whatever its impact on the local economy, transport and the environment – the current proposal is intrusive and insensitive in its proximity to this special site.

You might begin with: “I wish to comment on this application with special reference to its potential harmful impact on Brompton Cemetery, especially in the context of the Cemetery being a Grade I Listed site, with Grade II* buildings and Grade II memorials, and a site of Nature and Borough Conservation Importance. I object most strongly to the application on the following grounds: “

If you wish to be very brief you may simply say that the proposed buildings are much too high, much too dense, and too close to the cemetery boundary. This wall of buildings will overlook recent burials, compromise a much-valued public green space and nature conservation area, and destroy a fine vista in a heritage site of international importance.

Chapter and verse with reference to the complete application:

Brompton Cemetery is a Conservation Area, Grade I Listed site on the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, and a Site of Nature Conservation Importance (SNIC) designated Borough Grade I within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, with rich, varied and vulnerable wildlife.
The proposed heights run strongly counter to the joint Councils’ draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) guidelines for the appropriate height levels for buildings, being at least twice the height of other residential buildings in the area.
The buildings’ height and density should fail under the guidelines in the Draft London Plan, Policies 7.4, 7.7, 7.8, and 7.12, and because the Application is premature in the light of unfinished local consultations, studies and plans.
The proposed density of buildings disregards the principle frequently iterated in the draft SPD that there should be a clear line of sight from the Seagrave Road car park area through to St Luke’s Church, Redcliffe Square.
The proposed heights run strongly counter to the requirements in the Inspector’s Report on the Examination in Public into the LBHF core strategy, Development Plan Document, regarding: (a) the importance of protecting and enhancing the character and appearance of the cemetery; (b) the context of the existing townscape and heritage assets in the area, particularly the views from the north-western quadrant of the cemetery.
The height and design of the buildings are grossly out of character with the surrounding area, most notably the proposed 16-storey glass-clad tower.