I went to the short-lived pre-application public showing of A2Dominion’s plans to redevelop the Ivy Lane flats on the JR site, and to build new accommodation next to the blocks they already have on the east side of Churchill Drive. The display consisted of two boards showing the site layouts, one board with an earlier version, and various computer graphics of how the developments might look.

I didn’t glean very much information. The architects for both schemes are MEPK Architects. It was not clear just how much extra accommodation there would be, but there would certainly be more than there is now. There didn’t seem to be much to object to in the proposals but I think the contentious points locally will be access for construction traffic, especially for Ivy Lane, as the only viable route seems to be along Osler Road with access on the ‘bendy’ part. The Ivy Lane plans also show a ‘New Access’ entrance to the site on the bends; someone said something about needing to ‘open up the angles a bit’ to improve visibility for this entrance.

The other issue that might be controversial will be the proposed building heights. The site plans didn’t show this, but the architect’s images show some blocks up to (I think) 6 storeys, others less. This may well be acceptable, especially in the context of desirable densification, but the headline is likely to trigger local concern.

A2Dominion hope to submit full planning applications before the end of the year, which should fill in a lot of the details, but they admit they’ve still got a lot of work to do before being ready.