Campaigners celebrate dramatic riverside 'u-turn'

3:35pm Friday 23rd October 2009

By Joanna Kilvington

The controversial redevelopment of Twickenham Riverside has been dramatically halted in what has been described as a “humiliating” u-turn from the council.

Council leader Serge Lourie made the shock announcement that plans to build 32 houses and a river centre on the derelict site would be grounded until next summer at a packed council meeting on Tuesday night.

The climbdown follows a petition signed by almost 10,000 people and an independent referendum in which more than 90 per cent of people voted against plans to sell the former pool site to a private developers.

The riverside is now expected to become a key issue in the run-up to next May’s local elections.

Councillor Lourie said: “I have no fear of fighting the election where this will be one of the issues on which we will fight it. This will enable the people of the borough to have their say in the election.”

Coun Lourie said he wanted to postpone signing the contract with developer Countryside Properties until he was satisifed with its accounts.

Questions have been raised about the company’s financial security after overdue accounts showed parent company Copthorn Holdings had made a loss in turnover of £81.7m before tax for 2008. The 2009 accounts will not be available until summer 2010 – after the election.

The announcement met with rapturous applause by campaigners, who have fought vociferously against the plans.

Opposition leader Coun Nicholas True said: “It’s one of the most humiliating announcements I have heard in this council chamber.

“They have been calling the public a disgrace, calling the opposers wreckers, ignoring every consultation and a referendum of nearly 2,000 who have opposed the scheme and we have here a petition of nearly 10,000 signed by people who oppose this scheme. People do need to realise it’s still alive, it has just been suspended. To kill this scheme we have to ensure they don’t get in at the next elections.”

Friends of Twickenham Riverside member Scott Naylor said: “Clearly the community is absolutely delighted with the decision. It now means it will be for the election to determine.”

Fellow member and Eel Pie Island resident John Perry said: “This is a fantastic and genuine opportunity for our community to work together.”

However, deputy leader Stephen Knight said: “If members of the opposition really think it’s humiliating to go to the ballot box to give people the chance to have their say then they have a very, very different idea of democracy.”

Last week, London Mayor Boris Johnson waded into the row by writing in a letter to Richmond’s London Assembly member, Councillor Tony Arbour, that he was concerned about the “potential inappropriate development”.

Coun Arbour said: “I have no doubt that Boris’ intervention precipitated this humiliating climbdown.”

Twickenham’s MP, Vince Cable, whose decision to stay out of the debate had angered campaigners, said he welcomed the Liberal Democrat-run council’s decision not to rush into a contract.