Dear HTA Design, you are the architects chosen by Circle Housing supposedly on the behalf of the residents of Ravensbury, but so far most of us think you aren’t actually listening.
You have witnessed the poor level of information dealt out by Circle Housing since last year because you were there, but in over a year you haven’t actually shown us anything of worth.
You said, “Tell us what you like and dislike about Ravensbury.”
We said,”We like the houses, we like the character, we like the peace and quiet and the homely nature of our area. We love our community feel and that it’s a village community set in the heart of Merton.”
So you said, “Yeah, yeah, that’s very nice but how about these flats that we’ve drawn up on our mood boards? Think of the greater good that flats and increased density would bring to the wider population!”
So we said:
“No mate, you’re really not listening are ya?! It seems like you’re just spouting the Circle Housing line – ‘build em high and kick everyone out’. You just show us ugly monstrosities that may well suit the inner cities or deprived areas, that are massively out of scale with those that inhabit them. But we live in a beautifully designed quarter of Merton that is home to the working classes, where children still play on the street and people can sit in their reasonably sized gardens in privacy as opposed to having to either hide indoors on these fine summers days, peek from balconies hoisted up on multi storey buildings, or lay in full view of the passing traffic as per your designs in Clapham Park and Kidbrooke ‘Village’ [read Her Majesty’s Pleasure for that particular development].”
We went on to say:
“Show us the rough layouts for what you plan, show us a massing model master plan even. Better still, show us houses & gardens. That could allow residents to make an educated decision about whether they should approve or otherwise of this venture backed by Circle Housing Corporation and its investors.”
So we wait….
Ravensbury Grove Blog 