The Fishmonger/Alchemist pub redevelopment plans have been approved

1 min read

Author: Cyril Richert

new-facade

On 14th September 2016, retrospective planning application 2016/0647 for the Alchemist pub was approved by the Council (7 votes in favour and 1 abstention). A number of conditions have been added to the approval to those recommended by officers, including a requirement that detailed drawings of the decorative features of the front facade shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority prior to the commencement of the development. The specific details (p.a. 2016/5958) were consented on 5th December 2016.

The Wandsworth Conservation Area Advisory Committee submitted an objection which was dismissed, as well as 27 other objections. Their objection said that the building should be rebuild with its original details and materials.

It is clear that the proposal is to reconstruct the pub with an additional bay to the east – the planning report for original application said that the side extension “is considered to represent insubstantial harm to the heritage asset.”

Following the demolition of the former Fishmonger/Alchemist pub made without planning consent, the Council’s press release dated Tuesday 21st July 2015 said “The council responded to this unlawful demolition by launching enforcement action requiring the developer to rebuild it brick-by-brick.

And the chair of the Planning Application Committee, Sarah Mc Dermott commented:

“In our view the demolition was a very serious breach of planning rules which can only be put right by the complete rebuilding and reconstruction of this important community asset, using the same materials and to the same architectural design.”

Obviously the current modern masonry blocks being currently erected is not following the requirement to rebuild “brick-by-brick”, even with cladding added later to look like bricks…

Modern block masonry replacing the former brick walls
Modern block masonry replacing the former brick walls

The approval of the plans following the demolition without planning consent makes the Council’s process a fool, but as pastiches go, it could have been worse.

Did you like reading this article? Help us write more!

Clapham Junction Insider (formerly known as the CJAG website) has been publishing local news for over 14 years and remains committed to providing information about the local community and engaging in public interest journalism.

Our goal is to feature a wide range of community campaigns and initiatives, local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, and provide assistance to residents.

We have always been dedicated to these endeavours and have no intention of changing. In fact, we would like to expand our efforts further.

Until recently, all the stories, analyses, and reports published have been made possible with the invaluable help of many volunteers. However, it requires a significant amount of time and effort, and we are frustrated that we cannot do more. There are numerous topics we would like to cover, but we require financial resources to provide regular information.

Therefore, we kindly ask our readers to consider offering financial support to sustain these efforts. Any contributions made will help support community and public interest news, as well as the expansion of our coverage in this area.

2 ways of supporting our project

Do you think what we are doing is helping the community and you want to encourage us to do more? We have set up two ways of supporting our project:

  1. Paypal: For one-off contributions, you can just use your bank card. However if you wish to encourage and support us regularly with a small amount, you will need a Paypal account to set up a monthly subscription. Click here to donate.
  2. Patreon: this is a well-known membership platform that connects content creators with supporters. Mainly, it offers financial tools that let supporters subscribe to projects that give creators a predictable income stream as they continue to create content. Click here to subscribe and support us regularly.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

CJI editor and Clapham Junction Action Group co-founder and coordinator since 2008, Cyril has lived in Clapham Junction since 2001.
He is also funder and CEO of Habilis-Digital Ltd, a digital agency creating and managing websites and Internet solutions.