Kent's tallest building about to be built...

[max_tranmere]

I don't know if people are familiar with a rather dull ordinary town in Kent called Gravesend. I go there sometimes because of my work and it is very dull and ordinary - like most towns on the edge of, or just beyond the perimetre of London. Gravesend is located about 20 miles east of London on the River Thames. Well, get this, a 400 foot, 32 storey, tower is about to be built there - in a town that presently has nothing more than about 4 or 5 storeys buildings. It will be taller than anything in Kent, or in Essex, for that matter. It will be visible 20-30 miles away, and may even be able to be seen from mainland Europe on a clear day.

Shipping, way out in the North Sea, will be able to see it long before they have got anywhere near the Thames Estuary - whilst still in international waters, and anyone walking around the lovely North Downs in Kent will have this huge monolith poking into the sky on the horizon. There is a massive local campaign to stop it (unsurprisingy). It is going to be built on the rivers edge, next to an old very small church, and it will be nearly THREE TIMES the height of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. This is quite possibly the most ridiculous building proposal in Britain's history! Does anyone on the Forum live in, or near there, and what are your thoughts on this 32 floor 'luxury residential development' that is about to be built?

[colonel]

Gravesend is part of the Thames Gateway new town and slagged off on Chav Towns...it sounds like it is much needed.

Merry Hill- near me- was going to have a 500-900 ft tower built when it was first developed. Like the Emley Moor transmitter in Yorkshire, it would be seen OVER the next and nearby hill ranges. Land and geological problems meant that it never got built- but what a great shame- what a great tourist attraction it would have been.

[max_tranmere]

The tower in Gravesend I dont think will do much for tourism there, but it will certainly be talked about for miles around. Right opposite there is Essex and everyone for miles and miles across the county of Essex will be able to see it - as I mentioned. Somebody in Gravesend told me that Barratt Homes have built hundreds of new properties in the area which they can't sell because of the Credit Crunch so I don't know how the developers of this particular project hope to sell their places. Some towns and cities have had huge things appear in them all of a sudden: Derby, which I know reasonably well, was going to have a huge 'needle' in the middle, rising many hundreds of feet, but that was scrapped. The views from the top of the tower in Gravesend will be incredible - sadly everyone within a million miles will have a view of IT aswell!

[colonel]

A house in Essex can be bought at any time..a flat in this tower will be unique and I think they will sell like hot cakes..

[JonnyHungwell]

Reminds me when I drove through Durham, North Carolina - a relatively low-rise town by American standards. But they had built a few ridiculous out of proportion buildings, which seemed pointless when there was miles of open space outside the centre. Not that the centre was that big or even lacked space - in England they'd have turned that intersection into 50 houses

[img]http://img28.picoodle.com/data/img28/3/ ... e1392f.jpg[/img]

[JonnyHungwell]

This was the approach to the town - first thought was wtf!

[img]http://img28.picoodle.com/data/img28/3/ ... ba9f05.jpg[/img]

[planeterotica]

Wait until they erect The Angel Of The South nearby at Ebbsfleet, they will get a good view of that from their tower in Gravesend !wink!

[colonel]

You've never been to Cannock then?

[JonnyHungwell]

The closest I ever came to Cannock would be Birmingham, although that was a long time ago --- maybe 15 years ago.

[colonel]

Skyscraper of some description there too,mate...the Pritchard Tower, right by the M6 Toll and A5.