Palmer Johnson facility in Southampton given green light
By IBI Magazine
Councilors in Southampton yesterday approved a plan to allow US yacht builder Palmer Johnson to begin manufacturing superyachts on the former VT shipyard in Woolston. Local officials say the Palmer Johnson facility would add 800 jobs to the area. The council, after a specially convened six-hour meeting, also approved a new master plan called Centenary Quay that would allow developers to put in 1,620 homes in a complex that includes high-rise towers, houses, supermarket and hotel. The plan has created a huge firestorm of protest in the local community. About 1,640 citizens filed a record number of complaints in Southampton. Community groups have also held two protest marches that attracted thousands of protesters. Around a dozen campaigners, including members of the Woolston Community Association, turned up to the meeting to object. According to a story in the Daily Echo, protesters are not singling out Palmer Johnson, but criticising the overall development. They claim the development is concentrating too many homes in a small area. It would also create traffic congestion and parking chaos. Protesters also said the height of the three 25-storey waterfront towers would ruin the Victorian character of the neighborhood. The architects said it was a "fantastic unique development" that would revitalise Woolston. According to the city council, the total value of the two developments called Centenary Quay will be £500 million. "Some form of major development was always inevitable, indeed welcome, on this site given the need to clean up the area after years of heavy industry," John Denham, MP for Southampton Itchen, told the BBC. "It is very good news that hundreds of jobs will be created, but I am concerned about the scale and density of the development." The council-approved plan is a watered-down version of the original development plan, with less flats and more single-family homes. But local community groups, who say they were never consulted on the scale or look of the development, vowed to fight on after the council approved the project. "The development is out of character with the Victorian community, it's a close-knit community, very traditional," Lee Donnarumma, a protester from Woolston, told the BBC. "We'll regroup, it's not the end of the road."
(19 August 2008)
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