The company that owns the former university campus in Trent Park is hoping to create 245 new homes on the site. It is willing for part of the historic mansion to be used as a museum, but campaigners are disappointed with the amount of space the company is willing to allocate to this purpose. There will be a public meeting about the campaign for a museum on 16th June.
The Emerging Masterplan
Berkeley Homes revealed details of how their ideas for development of the former campus are evolving at the third public consultation event, held earlier this month. The display boards used for the consultation provided considerably more detail about Berkeley's plans than previously. The "Emerging Masterplan" has taken account of feedback from two previous public consultation events and discussions with more than a dozen "local stakeholder groups".
Berkeley has summarised its current thinking as follows:
- A long term solution that restores and refurbishes the Mansion House to its former glory by removing the 1960's/70s former university buildings, reinstating the terrace and the Union Jack forecourt and associated landscaping.
- Residential uses in the Mansion House at part-ground and upper floors to ensure its long term viability and public access for the first time at part basement and part-ground floor.
- A landscape-led masterplan that removes the former university buildings to open up and transform the setting of the Green Belt and Mansion House, reinstates the sites historic landscape including Lime Tree Avenue and Wisteria Walk and integrates the site into the wider Trent Country Park.
- To provide long term public access across the site.
- To restore and re-use the majority of buildings which are identified as making a positive contribution to the Trent Park Conservation Area.
- To secure the long term viable future of the site through the delivery of new homes that are sensitively located, of a high quality design and contextually appropriate to the setting of the historic buildings and landscape.
"Emerging Masterplan" for Trent Park mansion and former university campus
(Click on the image to see larger version in a new window)
The masterplan currently envisages creating 245 houses and flats, as shown below;
31 of the flats would be located either in the mansion itself or in other existing buildings that are considered worthy of retention.
Vehicular access to the site would be via Snakes Lane and Berkeley plan to provide a frequent shuttle-bus service linking the new housing with Bramley Road. They predict that the daily number of vehicles using Snakes Lane would be smaller than was the case when Middlesex University had its campus in Trent Park.
A further public event is planned for the summer and Berkeley hope to submit planning applications this autumn.
The above is a short summary - for much more detail see the display boards used at the consultation.
Museum proposals "unacceptable"
Save Trent Park, the organisation that is campaigning for a museum in the mansion to memorialise its "secret listeners" role in World War 2, has expressed satisfaction that some of the points listed in its online petition will be met. However, they consider that Berkeley's initial proposals for the musem are "unacceptable in their current form". Berkeley is offering half of the ground floor and a third of the basement, with access to the museum via a side entrance. Save Trent Park consider want a museum and associated cafe and gift shop occupying the entire ground floor and basement "as a minimum" and insist that "nothing less than public access through the mansion's grand front entrance will do".
Save Trent Park will be holding a public meeting at Christ Church, Cockfosters, on Thursday 16 June from 7pm to discuss the museum proposal. Speakers include the CEO of the Bletchley Park Trust, Iain Standen, WW2 veteran and secret listener Fritz Lustig, Jason Charlambous and Dr Helen Fry. The meeting will be chaired by David Burrowes MP, and representatives from Berkeley Homes and Enfield Council will attend to update the public on their positions.
Links
- Display boards used at the May 2016 public event
- Campaign update from Save Trent Park
- Article about Trent Park in WW2 on the Historic Musings blog
