Seagrave Road Car Park, Earl's Court
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planning report PDU/2782/01 17 October 2011 Seagrave Road Car Park, Earl’s Court in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham Planning application no. 2011/02000/FUL Strategic planning application stage 1 referral (new powers) Town & Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended); Greater London Authority Acts 1999 and 2007; Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008. The proposal Demolition of all existing buildings and the development of 808 residential units, comprising eight residential blocks ranging from four to sixteen storeys and including thirty townhouses, a gym with associated cafe, together with 485 car parking spaces, open space and landscaping, plant, cycle parking, servicing and new vehicular access arrangements to Seagrave Road. The applicant The applicant is EC Properties Ltd, a subsidiary of Capital and Counties Plc, and the architects are John McAslan and Partners and Paul Davis and Partners. Strategic issues The proposal is consistent with strategic land use policy. The proposal is potentially consistent with the play space, urban design, inclusive access, biodiversity, noise and air quality policies of the London Plan. The application is inconsistent with the housing, climate change adaptation and mitigation and transport policies of the London Plan. Recommendation That Hammersmith and Fulham Council be advised that the application does not comply with the London Plan, for the reasons set out in paragraph 155 of this report; but that the possible remedies set out in paragraph 157 of this report could address these deficiencies. Context 1 On 14 September 2011 the Mayor of London received documents from Hammersmith and Fulham Council notifying him of a planning application of potential strategic importance to develop the above site for the above uses. Under the provisions of The Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008 the Mayor has until 25 October 2011 to provide the Council with a statement setting out whether he considers that the application complies with the London Plan, and his reasons for taking that view. The Mayor may also provide other comments. This report sets out information for the Mayor’s use in deciding what decision to make. 2 The application is referable under Categories 1A, 1B, and 1C of the Schedule of the Order 2008: page 1 1A “Development which comprises or includes the provision of more than 150 houses, flats, or houses and flats”. 1B “Development (other than development which only comprises the provision of houses, flats, or houses and flats) which comprises or includes the erection of a building or buildings…outside Central London and with a total floorspace of more than 15,000 square metres”. 1C ”Development which comprises or includes the erection of a building of one or more of the following descriptions…the building is more than 30 metres high and is outside the City of London”. 3 Once Hammersmith and Fulham Council has resolved to determine the application, it is required to refer it back to the Mayor for his decision as to whether to direct refusal; take it over for his own determination; or allow the Council to determine it itself. 4 The environmental information for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 has been taken into account in the consideration of this case. 5 The Mayor of London’s statement on this case will be made available on the GLA website www.london.gov.uk. Site description 6 The 3.1 hectare site is bounded to the north by residential and commercial buildings in the vicinity of Rickett Street and Roxby Place, beyond which lie West Brompton Station and Lille Road. The opposite side of Lillie Road comprises Empress Place, the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre and Eardley Crescent. The western boundary of the site is defined by Seagrave Road, beyond which is an established residential area encompassing the Sedlescombe Conservation Area. 7 To the south the site is bounded by a London Ambulance Service depot, beyond which is housing on Brompton Park Crescent and, beyond that, Stanford Bridge Football Stadium. To the east the site is bounded by a strip of inaccessible green space, designated as an area of Nature Conservation Importance (Borough Grade I). The other side of this strip is defined by a four track railway comprising the West London Line and District Line (Wimbledon Branch). The railway constitutes the administrative boundary with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 8 To the east of the railway is Brompton Cemetery. This is designated as Metropolitan Open Land, Grade I in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest and within the Brompton Cemetery Conservation Area. The cemetery incorporates a number of listed buildings and structures. The main entrance to the Cemetery is through a Grade II* listed triumphal arch from Old Brompton Road at the northern end. The chapel and arcades are separately Grade II* and the Cemetery contains a number of fine monuments, seven of which are listed Grade II. 9 The site is broadly level and substantially occupied by a hard surfaced car park of 1,070 spaces together with ancillary single storey, pre-fabricated buildings. The car park is largely used to provide car and coach parking and marshalling space for the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, although a small section is also used by a vehicle hire company. Planning permission for use as a car park was granted in 1986 prior to which the site was used as a coal yard. The northern part of the site is currently occupied by commercial premises at the eastern end of Rickett Street. page 2 10 The site is within a 400-640m walk of seven bus routes (26, 74, 190, 328, 391, 430, and C3) and is 400m from the main access to West Brompton station on Lille Road. West Brompton station is served by District Line services between Wimbledon and Upminster, London Overground services between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction and by Southern Rail services. 11 The Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) of the site ranges between 6 (at the northern end) and 3 (at the southern end) on a scale where 6 is high and 1 is low. This reflects the excellent access to West Brompton station. 12 The site lies within the Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area. Details of the proposal 13 The application seeks full planning permission for the demolition of all existing buildings and the development of a total of 110,091 sq.m. (GEA) of floorspace for residential and leisure use. This would be broken down as shown in Table 1 below. Land use Use class Gross external area (GEA) (sq.m.) Block A C3 10,925 Block B C3 6,243 Block C C3 19,934 Block D C3 18,523 Block E C3 6,460 Block F C3 12,243 Block G C3 4,534 Block H C3 4,126 Seagrave Road town houses C3 6,096 Total residential 89,084 Gym (with associated cafe) D2 1,167 Total leisure 1,167 Sub-total 90,251 Ancillary (servicing, plant, parking) 19,840 Total 110,091 Table 1: Proposed land uses. 14 The residential floorspace would comprise 808 units (use class C3) in eight residential blocks (Blocks A-H) ranging from four to sixteen storeys (plus basement level and plant) and including thirty townhouses. The application also proposes a gym facility with associated cafe (use class D2) together with 485 car parking spaces (455 spaces at basement level) in addition to open space and landscaping, plant, cycle parking, servicing and new vehicular access arrangements to Seagrave Road. page 3 15 The application for Seagrave Road is the smallest of three applications submitted by EC Properties Ltd within the Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area. The other two applications cover the land occupied by Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, Lillie Bridge Road Depot and Gibbs Green and West Kensington housing estates to the north of the site and are split to reflect the administrative boundary between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF). 16 Earl’s Court Application 1 (RBKC) (ref: PP/11/01937) proposes: “Demolition and alteration of existing buildings and structures and the comprehensive redevelopment of the Site including new open space, vehicular and pedestrian accesses and routes and a mixed use development comprising buildings to accommodate office use (Class B1), retail use (Class A), hotel and serviced apartment uses (Class C1), leisure use (Class D2), community and culture uses (Class D), below ground ancillary space (parking/plant/servicing etc), residential use (Class C3), works to existing ticket hall/escalators/pedestrian tunnel to create direct access between the Site and Earls Court Station, vehicle parking and associated highways alterations, structures for decking over existing rail lines and tunnels, waste and utilities, enabling works including related temporary works and structures and other works incidental to the development.” 17 Earl’s Court Application 2 (LBHF) (ref: 2011/02001/OUT) proposes: “Demolition and alteration of existing buildings and structures and the comprehensive redevelopment of the Site including new open space, vehicular and pedestrian accesses and routes and a mixed use development comprising buildings to accommodate office use (Class B1), retail use (Class A), hotel and serviced apartment use (Class C1), leisure use (Class D2), private hospital (Class C2), education, health, community and culture uses (Class D1), below ground ancillary space (parking/plant/servicing etc), residential use (Class C3), replacement of existing depot structure with new stabling structure (Sui Generis), vehicle parking and associated highways alterations, structures for decking over existing rail lines and tunnels, waste and utilities, enabling works including related temporary works and structures and other works incidental to the development.” 18 The three applications are based on an overarching masterplan and have been prepared and submitted simultaneously, providing a comprehensive approach to the redevelopment of the Opportunity Area as required by the London Plan, borough core strategies and the draft supplementary planning guidance for the area.