Click
hereto Vote in the 2007 Consultation It is your last
chance to save Sloane Square.
The 2007 Consultation
Process & Result
The 2007 consultation process has now closed. Here are the key facts about the plan and outcome.
Dates of
Consultation
The
third and final consultation on the future of Sloane Square took place
between 28 February and 29 March 2007. This was the last chance to
save Sloane Square.
Appointment of
ICM to Conduct Consultation
Previous
consultations were conducted by the Council. This time, under pressure
from the residents’ group Save Sloane Square, leading and
independent market researchers ICM were appointed.
Form of
Consultation
The consultation included the
following:
a public
exhibition to open the event;
a postal survey
of all households in the consultation area;
a postal survey
of 500 businesses;
500 in-home
face-to-face surveys of residents;
500 in-street and
exit interviews around Sloane Square;
a deliberative
research event with 150 adults to close the consultation.
All employees of a business, and all
members of a household over the age of 16, were able to express their views.
The
Consultation Area
The
consultation area covered a broad area of Chelsea and Belgravia, unlike
previous consultations. The area stretched from Beaufort Street in the
west to Grosvenor Place in the east, and from Cromwell Gardens/Brompton
Road in the north to Chelsea Embankment in the south.
The Options
The
consultation sampled opinions on two proposals for the Square: the
Save Sloane Square/Atkins Renovation scheme and the Council’s
crossroads plan. Respondents were asked a series of questions about
each proposal and for information on themselves (for example, their age
group).
Voters Outside
the Consultation Area
Anyone,
and not just those in the consultation area, were able to express their views in
the consultation by logging onto the ICM’s website, downloading
the
questionnaire and returning the forms to ICM. The correct web address,
which went live on 28 February, was: www.icmresearch.co.uk/sloanesquare.asp
Results of the
Consultation
ICM will report their findings to the
Council in April. The Council’s response will be forthcoming
in May.
Was
the Consultation Fair?
The consultation was fair
in respect
of ICM’s handling of the process. However, there are many
aspects
of the process which have not been fair.
Preparation of
Renovation Scheme
Atkins and Save Sloane Square were
given only six weeks to
develop the Renovation scheme for the Square from beginning to end.
This six week period included the time over Christmas and New Year. By
contrast, the Council have been working on their crossroads plan for
nearly six years. Despite this lengthy preparation, there is still much
in the crossroads plan which is unfinished and unspecified. The
Atkins/Save Sloane Square Renovation scheme, by contrast, is remarkably
coherent.
Preparation of
Brochure
The
Council have been frustrating to deal with in the preparation of the
brochure. Each side was asked by ICM to submit, in not more than 200
words, the five merits of their proposal. The Council made multiple
objections to the wording of Save Sloane Square’s five
merits,
greatly exacerbating the process. They refused to provide up-to-date
costs of their own crossroads plan, and refused to have Save Sloane
Square’s Renovation scheme costed.
Preparation of
Images
The
process of preparing the images used in the brochure was fraught. Save
Sloane Square is happy with only one of the images for the Renovation
scheme – the view towards the station showing the statue of
Sir
Hans Sloane in the foreground. The view from the station is incomplete
and wrong in many respects – for example, it excludes the bus
stop outside the Hugo Boss shop but includes unpleasant lights around
the central square instead of flag poles as shown in the Atkins design.
But Save Sloane Square was told that there was ‘no more
time’ to make the changes requested.
Absence of
Traffic Information
No
information is given in the consultation document about the traffic
impact of the two proposals. The Council contends that the public is
being asked simply to make a choice between two layouts. This is
completely wrong. The Council’s crossroads plan would have a
major impact on surrounding residential streets. The Renovation scheme
has no impact because all roads remain open and traffic flow is
unchanged.
Breach of Council Commitments
A number
of the Council's commitments have been broken, notably the commitment
that the Council would not seek to steer or influence the outcome of
the consultation. On the contrary, the Council has distributed a stream
of glossy materials to residents in the consultation area urging them
to vote in favour of the crossroads. Save Sloane Square has lacked the
resources to match the Council's vigorous campaign. So instead of the
process being fair, as the Council had promised, it has been heavily
biased in favour of the crossroads scheme.
The 2007 Consultation
The 2007
consultation started at the end of February. It was conducted by
ICM, an independent market research firm, and not the
Council.
We then understood that the Council were withdrawing thier plan
We had the following comment on our
Front Page BUT THEN WE FOUND OUT (on the 30th of May) THEY WERE STILL
PLANNING TO MOVE THE FOUNTAIN. WHY?
Save Sloane Square welcomes Council's withdrawal of Crossroads Plan
On
24 April, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea announced that it
was withdrawing the crossroads plan for Sloane Square.
Dr James Thompson said :'The
third consultation conducted by ICM was an extensive and thorough
exercise. It showed conclusively that the crossroads plan was not the
popular choice for residents, businesses or visitors. ‘We thank the Council for
calling the third consultation in response to our petitions and
approaches, and for funding the development of the alternative
renovation scheme’.
