Fences for the gardens
Green space could be shut off to the public for seven years
Artist’s impression of how the square gardens could eventually look [Reef Group]
ONE of the few surviving green spaces in the West End could be shut off to the public for seven years, it was revealed this week.
Cavendish Square Gardens, Marylebone, will be fenced off for building works, a council report has revealed. The detail was buried in documents being considered by Westminster City Council’s cabinet last night, Thursday.
The plan is to change control of the Q-Park car park, operating beneath the gardens, so it can be converted into a health and leisure complex.
Michael Bolt, from the Marylebone Association, said: “There are a number of questions, not least the length of closure – between four and seven years we understand, which seems far too long to deprive the public of just about the only publicly available green space in the south of Marylebone.”
The subterranean health and wellbeing centre will span 280,000 square feet, with entrances in Oxford Street, Harley Street and Regent Street. It could even include an underground “hospital”.
How part of the underground complex could eventually look [Reef Group]
Developers Reef Group will also upgrade the existing gardens, investing £3million in improvements including a “moat-like” water feature and fresh planting. The council report states that “…the gardens will be better secured overnight, which was noted in the Metropolitan Police’s consultation response as a positive step in preventing anti-social behaviour”.
“The increased area of planting will increase biodiversity of plant species and encourage animal species within the gardens”, the report adds.
For the £150million below-ground redevelopment to go ahead, the council need to end the current car park lease early and give control to developer Reef.
This will include a two-week consultation period, during which residents and others can raise objections to the handover.
The car park, which will be demolished, currently has 432 spaces, but less than half of these are used at any one time, according to the council’s report. It also states that 104 drivers who hold permits for the car park will be given use of nearby car parks.
Plans to change the car park space into a shopping, leisure and health centre were first given permission in 2022 but only implemented in May this year. “If the proposals proceed, they will enable a significant capital receipt of £42m to be generated for the council and will provide an improved risk balance to the commercial property portfolio as well as supporting the redevelopment of a significantly under-utilised asset and improvement to open space”, the report says.
