Council Urged to Reject Town Centre Planning Application
Plans would have ' irrevocable and negative impact'
Pressure is mounting for Ealing Council to reject current redevelopment proposals for the town centre.
Campaigners claim if plans for the former Arcadia site get the go ahead it will mean the end of an historic conservation area, and create an 'open season' for further demolition.
Developers want to overhaul 9-42 The Broadway building flats (including an 18-storey block), shops, a music venue and a 'boutique' cinema.
But opposition has been growing and nearly 1,500 have already signed a petition.
The Victorian Society has expressed disaproval over the plans and want Ealing Council to reject the application.
Senior Victorian Society Conservation Adviser, James Hughes, said:
'' The amount of destruction this scheme requires would have an irrevocable and negative impact on central Ealing’s fundamental character and appearance. A total rethink is needed to redevelop the site sensitively so that these buildings, their character and that of the wider area is preserved’.
Meanwhile Nigel Barker, Planning Director at Historic England (HE), has written a damning letter to the council. He says:
'' I am disappointed that I have to make representations at this late stage raising issues of basic
approach and understanding, particularly as we have worked very effectively with your
council over a number of years on major heritage projects which have demonstrated that
regeneration and the historic environment go hand in hand. Ealing town centre has suffered
from poorly conceived major interventions in the past and there is a significant risk of this
happening again.''
A spokesperson from the developers Benson Elliot and Londonewcastle has said :
“We absolutely support the strong local desire to see the Conservation Area (CA) remain, of which our site is only a small part. It contains no listed buildings and we are preserving key facades that make a positive contribution to the CA, while replacing those identified as making a negative or neutral contribution.
''LB Ealing has identified four buildings on the site that make a positive contribution to the CA - only one of which we are unable to retain as we are pulling back our site boundary line to increase the pavement by up to 2.7m at the busy Carphone Warehouse corner. We believe this is an important public benefit. Of the remaining three - one is being kept in its entirety and the frontages of two more are being fully preserved.
''We are of course disappointed with the Historic England response, but we believe our proposals will bring welcome vitality to this part of the town centre, balancing major investment while preserving its valued character.''
An Ealing Council spokesperson has said: "We have no plans to review the conservation area and this will not be affected by any decision made at the planning hearing on 24 February."
See the plans in full here. The application goes before the planning committee on 24th February.
Campaigners are urging that objections to the scheme be sent to Steve Austin at planning@ealing.gov.uk (cc austins@ealing.gov.uk ) as well as local councillors.
Planning Ref P/2015/3479
22nd February 2016