Article contributed by Teddington Residents Group.

For more information on the Council's plans for Elleray Hall and the Teddington reaction to them, scroll down to the bottom of this article.

Richmond Council's Local Plan Strategic Vision is ambitious and inspires confidence in the way our local communities are organised and protected.

It aspires "to build on the success of maintaining and enhancing the borough's villages, its unique character and developing a strong and varied sense of place, in partnership with local communities and other key stakeholders."

The plan reassuringly states that Richmond "will be the best place in London to live as a result of the quality of the built environment and the high-quality design of new development that respects and enhances its distinctive character.

The amenity of residents and local neighbourhoods will have been protected and action taken on environmental issues and pollution.

Fine words indeed that we can all support - but what about the practice?

Regrettably, the council's actions in recent years have flown in the face of these worthy ambitions.

A case in point is the Elleray Hall redevelopment in conjunction with affordable housing.

The council's plans for the two sites remain contentious and deserve a much broader debate than has been offered by them.

From the outset, the residents most directly impacted by the proposals have been made to feel at best peripheral and, at worst, overlooked entirely.

The engagement process was deeply flawed, with the virtual meeting closely controlled and directed by the council officials and the biased questionnaires drawn up with partial or leading questions. The engagement allowed no scrutiny or meaningful discussion of alternative ideas but was rather designed as a self-congratulatory exercise.

The council's decision-making appears to be informed not by an objective evaluation of the merits of different proposals, but instead grants privileged consideration to its preferred stakeholders.

Despite its flaws, the engagement solicited significant and legitimate local challenges regarding the overbearing scale of the proposals, the substance of which the council has simply refused to engage with.

To represent the physical impact of the proposed developments on the surrounding area, Teddington Residents have created a three-dimensional model that shows, in stark contrast to council's misleading images that were used to sell the project, the hugely overbearing nature of the proposed developments, which go against the council's own planning guidelines.

The 3D tour illustrates the long-lasting impact on the reasonable quality of life for potential residents of the new flats and those that will live next to them from a sense of complete enclosure (the sorts of dense developments one associates with parts of the city that did not take sufficient care in its previous developments built in haste).

Architecturally, the scope will swamp the structures of historic townscape merit houses surrounding the sites.

Few would argue with new and existing residents' right to live in their homes and enjoy their outdoor spaces without a complete sense of enclosure.

Moreover, it is through the diligence and care provided by past local councils that residents in Teddington have been protected from the sorts of high-density developments seen elsewhere in London.

In its most recent proposals, the council has not only neglected its duty of care to protect the local community, but it has also morphed into the type of over-reaching and rapacious developer that it should be protecting its residents from.

The reckless haste in pushing through with the current plans may serve politicians' short term electoral ambitions, but the price will be despoiling the delicate and valued social and architectural ecosystem developed in Teddington over many years whilst providing poor quality social housing.

The council's intention to apparently proceed regardless is highly disquieting.

It is instructive to note the council's objections to a proposed private development project in Udney Park , citing the adverse effects.

Such adverse effects it seems to believe are irrelevant in its own plans for the Elleray Hall overdevelopment.

This despite, as the 3D visuals clearly demonstrate, the Elleray Hall plans being significantly more adversely impactful on the 'unique character…..and sense of place..'. This hypocrisy apparently does not cause any embarrassment to councillors.

The drive to meet targets at all costs is overriding the rights and well-being of the potential new and existing residents.

Indeed, in the council's haste to cram as many flats as possible in this dense space to maximise revenues which are to cover the cost of the new centre also shortchanges the potential new residents.

Affordable housing does not have to mean a race to the bottom in terms of the quality of provision for the less well off. Everyone deserves better.

The Elleray Hall development plans and the associated housing estate are one of many schemes the council has put forward to overdevelop Teddington village and other areas of Richmond.

The social contract that has existed for decades between residents and policymakers is that residents supply the taxes in order for policymakers to provide the services their community needs.

Naturally, this includes vital services for our most vulnerable elderly users. It is wholly inappropriate that the council has now turned to raising funds through inappropriate and intrusive developments, pitting residents against one another by creating a false choice between vital services for some and preservation of quality of life for others.

In the same way that our schools should not be funded by high-rise apartment blocks next door, there is no logical, practical or moral mandate for the provision of elderly care services to necessitate an intrusive housing development in the immediate vicinity.

We support a fit for purpose centre for the elderly and we support appropriate construction of good quality affordable housing that are carefully and sensitively designed so that we enhance our communities rather than vandalise them.

We deserve for our voices to be heard; we demand that our democratic representatives look beyond the fulfilment of arbitrary targets and consider the impacts of railroading of developments that will destroy our beautiful and fragile social and architectural heritage.

If the experiences that we have shared resonate with you, please join other local residents that have already given their support to our cause by signing the petition below:

Watch the Virtual Tour of the Elleray Hall and Housing Development including the group's 3D model

Teddington residents urge Council to rethink Elleray Hall scheme

Help shape future plans for Elleray Hall Teddington

Do you agree with this view? Get in touch - contact [email protected] with your comments