planning report PDU/2780/01 and PDU/2781/01 7 December 2011 Earl’s Court and West Kensington in the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham Planning application nos. PP/11/01937 and 2011/02001/OUT 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 proposals Application 1 (RBKC) (PP/11/01937) proposes the demolition and alteration of existing buildings and structures and the redevelopment of the Site including new open space, vehicular and pedestrian accesses and routes and a mixed use development comprising buildings to accommodate offices, retail, hotel and serviced apartments, leisure uses, community and culture uses, below ground ancillary space, and residential uses. Application 1 also includes works to create direct access to Earl’s Court Station, vehicle parking and associated highways alterations, structures for decking over existing rail lines and tunnels, waste and utilities, enabling works and other works incidental to the development. Application 2 (LBHF) (2011/02001/OUT) proposes the demolition and alteration of existing buildings and structures and the redevelopment of the Site including new open space, vehicular and pedestrian accesses and routes and a mixed use development comprising buildings to accommodate offices, retail, hotel and serviced apartments, leisure uses, private hospital, education, health, community and culture uses, below ground ancillary space, and residential uses. Application 2 also includes replacement of the existing London Underground depot structure and stabling, vehicle parking and associated highways alterations, structures for decking over existing rail lines and tunnels, waste and utilities, enabling works and other works incidental to the development. The applicant The applicant is EC Properties Ltd, a subsidiary of Capital and Counties Plc, and the masterplanners are Terry Farrell and Partners. Strategic issues The proposals currently raise the following strategic issues: land use; housing; open space and play space; urban design; inclusive access; equal opportunities; biodiversity; noise and air quality; climate change adaptation and mitigation and transport. Recommendation That Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham councils be advised that the application does not comply with the London Plan, for the reasons set out in paragraph 212 of this report; but that the possible remedies set out in paragraph 214 of this report could address these deficiencies. page 1 Context 1 On 27 October 2011 the Mayor of London received documents from Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) Councils notifying him of planning applications 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 7 December 2011 to provide each Council with a statement setting out whether he considers each 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 Both Application 1 (RBKC) (PP/11/01937) and Application 2 (LBHF) (2011/02001/OUT) are referable under Categories 1A, 1B, and 1C of the Schedule of the Order 2008: 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 Application 2 (2011/02001/OUT) (LBHF) is also referable under Categories 3A and 3F of the Schedule of the Order 2008: 3A “Development which is likely to…result in the loss of more than 200 houses, flats, or houses and flats (irrespective of whether the development would entail also the provision of new houses or flats); or…prejudice the residential use of land which exceeds 4 hectares and is used for residential use”. 3F “Development for a use, other than residential use, which includes the provision of more than 200 car parking spaces in connection with that use”. 4 At the time Application 2 was referred by Hammersmith and Fulham Council this was also referable under Category 3E of the Schedule of the Order 2008. The Hammersmith and Fulham Core Strategy (2011) was subsequently published and this application is no longer referable under Category 3E. 5 Once either Council has resolved to determine the relevant 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. 6 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. 7 The Mayor of London’s statement on this case will be made available on the GLA website www.london.gov.uk. page 2 Site descriptions 8 The application sites cover an area of circa 32 hectares straddling the boundary between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF). The application sites which, in combination, constitute the land covered by ‘Site Wide Development Option’ are referred to as the ‘Site’ throughout this report. 9 The Site broadly encompasses land bounded by West Cromwell Road, Warwick Road, Phillbeach Gardens, Eardley Crescent, Old Brompton Road, Lillie Road and North End Road. This land includes the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre building (EC1) and Earl’s Court Exhibition Hall building (EC2), Lillie Bridge Rail Depot, the West London Line, District Line (all branches) and Piccadilly Line (below ground), the Empress State building, the West Kensington and Gibbs Green housing estates and adjoining land. This land excludes some small areas of developed land in the vicinity of Empress Place, Lillie Road, North End Road and Beaumont Crescent. Table 1 sets out the applicants estimate of existing floorspace on the Site. 10 The administrative boundary between RBKC and LBHF broadly follows the West London Line from West Cromwell Road to Lillie Road and, with the exceptions noted below, divides Application 1 and Applications 2. Application 1 (RBKC) covers an area of circa 9 hectares and Application 2 (LBHF) covers an area of circa 23 hectares. 11 The existing built form is dominated by Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre buildings (EC1 and EC2) which cover the southeast quadrant of the Site. These exceptionally large-scale buildings are widely visible in the area and are surrounded by an apron of servicing and marshalling areas. The whole complex is raised up above the railways beneath. The Empress State building, a 31 storey tower currently used as offices, is also widely visible being the highest building within the immediate area. This lies in the south of the site immediately to the west of EC2. 12 The West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates occupy much of the western part of the Site. These estates, constructed in the 1960’s and 1970’s, comprise 760 homes in a variety of buildings of typically three to five storeys but including some blocks of up to eleven storeys. Gibbs Green School, which closed in 2009 , lies on Mund Street on the Gibbs Green Estate. To the north of the Gibbs Green Estates on Beaumont Avenue is the Rootstein Mannequin Factory. Land use description Use class Floorspace sq.m. (GEA) Residential C3 71,006 Exhibition Centre D1 143,129 Commercial (business and retail uses) B1-8 / A1-5 68,343 Education and community uses D1 1,996 Lillie Bridge Depot Sui generis 27,567 Total - 312,041 Table 1: Existing floorspace on the Site by land use. 13 The Lillie Road Depot buildings, together with the operational railways and the Clear Channel Building on West Cromwell Road, cover the majority of the northern and northeast of the Site. The depot is a Transport for London (TfL) maintenance and training facility and comprises a series of low rise warehouses, train sheds and office buildings. The notable exception is Ashfield House, a ten storey office building, adjacent to West Cromwell Road (A4) on the northern page 3 boundary of the site. There is also a TfL bus facility at the southern end of the site adjacent to the Empress State building. 14 The Site along with the Seagrave Road Car Park Site comprises land collectively identified by the London Plan as the Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area (ECWKOA). The Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area Revised Draft Joint Supplementary Planning Document Revised Draft for Public Consultation (November 2011) provides supplementary planning policy guidance for this area. This includes detailed analysis of the Site and surrounding area. 15 In particular, in terms of heritage assets this document notes that there are eighteen conservation areas in and around the Opportunity Area and many listed buildings, as well as Brompton Cemetery. The latter is designated as Metropolitan Open Land, Grade I in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, within the Brompton Cemetery Conservation Area and contains a number of listed buildings and structures. 16 West Cromwell Road (A4) forms part of the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) and is the most important trunk road within inner west London. Warwick Road, to the east, forms part of the TLRN and the Earl's Court one-way system.