Campaigners have been left unimpressed after discovering the foundation for the proposed three high-rise blocks to be built above Twickenham station will cost £3m.

They claim the money would cover the cost of making improvements to the station, which would be met more favourably by residents than the 10-storey apartment block proposed as part of the redevelopment of the site.

An application to build a podium across the tracks at Twickenham station, as part of the redevelopment of the site, was submitted to Richmond Council in July by Solum Regeneration, a joint venture between Network Rail and Kier Property.

It has so far received more than 30 objections from people who claim its scale is “overbearing” and say it will have a negative impact on grounds of “light, noise and sheer ugliness” to nearby residents.

Further concern erupted this week after it was discovered the posts from the podium will be almost a metre wide and 35m deep - and the foundations will cost millions.

Councillor Scott Naylor, ward member for Twickenham Riverside, said he was “stunned” at the cost.

He added: “The cost of the podium is about the equivalent of the cost of upgrading the whole station.”

Chris Gillum, member of campaign group Save our Skyline, said the building work would bring misery to people living in the area.

He said: “All that noise is going to be lovely for the people of Twickenham.

“It’s going to be chaos for the whole area.”

More than 1,000 people have already put their name to a petition launched by Twickenham Residents’ Action Group (Trag) calling for a “low rise, sensitive approach” for any development on the station.

The community body is looking into working with an architect to draw up a “positive alternative” to the podium, in keeping with the council’s supplementary planning document which proposes the maximum height for builds at the station and the sorting office site opposite should be five-storeys high.

The group received confirmation from Twickenham MP Vince Cable saying he backed residents’ support of the council planning paper this week.

Nigel Carr, from Solum Regeneration, said: "The podium application has been submitted, upon the advice of Richmond Council, in advance of the main application in order for Solum to meet a planned construction timetable to coincide with booked closures of the track and to ensure that we were able to spend more time consulting the public and stakeholders on the main application.

"We understand that some residents living in the immediate vicinity of the station do have some concerns about our proposals and we are currently considering how we can address some of these issues. However, the results from our Public Consultation event held before the summer show that over 60 per cent of people in Twickenham support our plans and the need to redevelop the station area."

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