Last month Kingston Council rejected Ratty’s plan to put up a shiny new tower in place of the Town House, complete with collonades, shades of neoclassicism to go with neoliberalism. The planning meeting rejected the proposal by a majority of 8 to 2 on the grounds that the proposed building’s mass and scale would be detrimental to the character of the area. One councillor said the building reminded him of a German WWII flak tower — listen to the meeting here. Will Ratty be taking a bit of flak from the Board of Governors for this architectural foul up? Will he be aiming his guns at the Council? We don’t suppose his usual bully-boy tactics will work there.
The University does appear to need new accommodation, unless Ratty’s shrinkage policy works faster than even he anticipates — student applications are down again this year — and there are uglier buildings around in the form of the Town House itself and the main building of course. Was the Council’s decision unjust? If it was, at least Ratty is getting a taste of his own medicine. Back to the drawing board with you old rodent. Try and get something right for a change.