“Utterly boring” proposals for the multi-million pound Twickenham Riverside project drove residents to ignore a consultation on new designs, the opposition leader claims.

Richmond Council consulted residents and businesses in Twickenham on proposals for a new ‘village feel’ for the development on King Street, Water Lane and Twickenham Riverside.

Six-hundred-and-thirty-two people completed the survey on three proposals for the site between November 17, 2016 and December 16.

The proposals were:

Your Local Guardian:

  • A building running down Water Lane from King Street and a second building that faces the Embankment; 

Your Local Guardian:

  • An L-shaped building running down Water Lane from King Street with three smaller buildings facing the Embankment; and 

Your Local Guardian:

  • A building running down Water Lane from King Street and a curved building facing the Embankment

Nearly half of the 632 respondents (47 per cent, 296 people) ranked proposal one as their favourite, compared to 29 per cent (185 people) ranking proposal two first, and 12 per cent (77 people) preferring proposal three.

Councillor Pamela Fleming, the council’s cabinet member for environment, claims the feedback shows the council is “heading in the right direction”.

From June 2016: New Twickenham Riverside consultation labelled 'smoke and mirrors' by campaigners

Community groups, including the Riverside Action Group (RAG) and the Riverside Village Group, had criticised the council for not consulting residents and claimed the plans would destroy a valuable part of the historic village for no material gain respectively.

From March 2016: Which of the Twickenham Riverside proposals do you think should be chosen?

Leader of Richmond’s Liberal Democrat opposition, Councillor Gareth Roberts, criticised the plans put forward as well as the consultation process.

He said: "The main reason why people ignored this consultation in their droves was because the proposals were so utterly boring.

“Had Cllr Fleming any sense she would have grasped this opportunity to present a range of proposals, different architects, different styles, different ideas.

“Instead she offered two variations on the same dull 'Trumpton-on-Thames' theme alongside a re-tread of the original, hideous Palladian villa proposal.”

Councillors will discuss the results of the survey at a cabinet committee next week. Further consultation with residents and local businesses will be held later in the spring on an amended design based on this feedback.

Cllr Fleming said: “We are pleased that residents generally seem to think we are heading in the right direction with proposals one and two.

“We have really worked hard to ensure that residents’ thoughts and ideas from the previous engagement over the summer were incorporated into the concept designs.

“We know that we will need to do more work to develop the designs. And, we will now work with the architects to build on the preferred proposals. We will then engage with the community in the spring.”

The New Heart For Twickenham consultation indicates a final planning decision is likely to be made in early 2018, and demolition and construction work would take place from spring onwards.

What do you think? Comment below, or get in touch at craig.richard@london.newsquest.co.uk