Over 2,000 Homes 'Lost' from Old Oak Common Development
Tories say Mayor has given go ahead to reduce 'huge and ambitious' plan
Conservatives in the London Assembly are claiming that London Mayor Sadiq Khan has given the go ahead to revise plans for the development of Old Oak Common, which would significantly reduce it in size.
The scheme would now have 2,250 fewer homes than originally planned.
According to a report in City AM newspaper, the decision to cut the size of the development was due to concerns about government funding. The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) asked the government for more money in January.
When the Mayor took over the project in 2016 he accused his predecessors of leaving it in a mess and said that the Government rather than Londoners should shoulder most of the financial burden of the scheme.
The original number of homes to be built on the site over its thirty year life span was 22,350 but this has now reportedly fallen to 20,100 over 20 years after a decision was taken at a full meeting of the OPDC on 28 September.
A second public consultation held in summer also included this reduction among changes made to plans following a first consultation earlier in the year.
In the second revised draft local plan consultation, the OPDC said "to reflect the changes to the number of site allocations in the revised draft Local Plan time frame, which is 20 years, the number of homes that we expect to be delivered has reduced from 22,350 to 20,100".
There were also changes to predicted employment figures, saying that "following the news about confirmed delays to development on the Elizabeth line depot, the number of jobs that will be created has been reduced from 67,900 to 40,400".
The Conservatives say that the Mayor has already been given nearly five billion pounds towards building homes in London and accuse him of only being interested in short term headlines.
Shaun Bailey AM, Chairman of the London Assembly Regeneration Committee and Conservative Mayoral Candidate said: "The plans for thousands of homes to be built in Old Oak Common were eagerly anticipated and many people were looking forward to seeing them materialise.
"One of the reasons the Mayor was elected was his huge and ambitious plans to build more affordable homes. Londoners now need to see these plans come to fruition."
However, a spokesperson for the Mayor refuted he claims, saying: "The mayor is not reducing the planned number of homes and jobs at Old Oak Common. With government support, he believes it can deliver 25,500 new homes and 65,000 new jobs over the course of the project."
The OPDC was established in April 2015 to oversee the development for the area and has full planning powers within its 650 hectare boundary that includes land in the boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Brent.
A new High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail Station is due to be constructed at Old Oak Common by 2026.
Find out more about the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation and view the plans online on the corporation's website.
Map showing the boundary of the area of Old Oak which is to be transformed. A high resolution version of the map can be found here.
October 29, 2018
