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Threat to demolish Athlone House |
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Athlone house in Highgate, a fine Victorian Mansion visible from many parts of the Heath is in immediate danger of demolition. Its proposed replacement is a new mansion more than twice as big, intrusive in size, scale, colour and detail.
Planning permission was granted for the construction of new flats in the grounds of Athlone House in 2005. A planning condition required the developer to restore Athlone House within three and a half years; this was accepted.
The flats have been completed, the developer has sold all but two of them and Athlone House has NOT been restored but re-sold. Now the new owner has put in a planning application to demolish the house and replace it with a conspicuous mansion of much greater area. Intrusive in design, its white stone will contrast sharply with the green background of trees. The character of, and views from, the Heath would be irreversibly spoilt.
We oppose this application on the grounds that: The permission requires the house to be retained and restored - and we believe it must be honoured even if the house is resold. The house is rich in architectural detail both inside and out and we are convinced that it is still in good enough condition to be restored. The new house would be two and a half times the area of the existing house. This contravenes the rules on rebuilding houses in Metropolitan Open Land such as the Heath. These were upheld in 2008 by the Court of Appeal in respect of the Garden House site by Hampstead Heath as a result of local action. The new house would be intrusive in size, scale, style, colours and detail, damaging the character of this popular area of the Heath immediately adjacent to Kenwood.
The deadline for objections to the development has now passed but this will probably be a war that will require many battles to win it. For more information visit www.highgatesociety.com
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