Qatari Diar presents new Barracks plan

Qatari Diar presents new Barracks plan

New draft masterplan presented, as Prince defends interference.

June 30, 2010 3:24 by Samuel Potter

Property company Qatari Diar has published its amended plans for the now infamous Chelsea Barracks project, reports Zawya.com.

The development of the London site has been the focus of much media and legal attention after the heir to the British throne, the Prince of Wales, intervened in the project before planning was granted. He is reported to have contacted the Qatari royal family – which owns Qatari Diar – directly to express his concern over the proposed designs for the project. As a result the plans were withdrawn, leading to a lawsuit between CPC, a developer in the project, and Qatari Diar.

The new plan has been published after further public consultation.

A spokesman for Qatari Diar said: “This latest Draft Masterplan incorporates feedback from the very extensive consultation undertaken since the Concept Masterplan was launched in April. The reaction from local residents and key stakeholders has been encouraging. We will be holding further discussions with local residents in a series of consultation events in the coming weeks.

“This Draft Masterplan is the latest step towards the outline planning application which we propose to submit later in the summer. As we have previously announced, the detailed architectural design of the buildings will be set out in the subsequent detailed planning applications.”

Meanwhile a member of the Prince of Wales’s staff hit back over allegations of inappropriate interference, claiming the Prince was merely expressing the views of unhappy local residents.