Report of the Corporate Director of Planning and Community Services Address: OUTBOROUGH CONSULTATION BY LONDON BOROUGH OF EALING (SOUTHALL GAS WORKS SITE, HAYES BY-PASS, HAYES (OUTLINE APPLICATION)) Development: DEMOLITION OF EXISTING BUILDINGS, REMEDIATION OF LAND AND REDEVELOPMENT OF SITE FOR MIXED USES LBH Ref Nos: 39704/APP/2009/1917 Drawing Nos: received 29/10/08 Date of receipt: 29/10/2008 Date(s) of Amendment(s): 01/05/2009 1.0 SUMMARY 1.1 The majority of this 44.7Ha site is located in the London Borough of Ealing, immediately to the east of the Grand Union canal. The proposed redevelopment of the former Southall Gas Works offers significant regenerative benefits (including remediation of contaminated land and provision of a considerable amount of housing). 1.2 As this report relates to the request from the London Borough of Ealing for observations and comments in relation to the planning application it has received, the issue for consideration by the Central and South Planning Committee is the impact of the proposed development on the London Borough of Hillingdon (rather than the determination of the application itself). 1.3 This is a substantial scheme with the potential to cause significant adverse impacts on the London Borough of Hillingdon. The application in its current form does not propose to adequately mitigate impacts, as such the proposal would: • Cause harm to the highways network; • Result in the loss of ecologically significant wildlife habitat; and • Result in future residents of the scheme intensively using land and facilities within the London Borough of Hillingdon (land and facilities which do not have the spare capacity necessary to cope with additional loading which would be resultant from this scheme); • Cause harm to the setting of the Green Belt and Grand Union Canal. 1.4 Additionally, supporting documentation accompanying the scheme fails to demonstrate that the scheme would not result in potentially adverse economic impacts on existing centres and their shopping areas. Concern is also raised Central & South Planning Committee – 15 September 2009 PART I – MEMBERS, PUBLIC AND PRESS in relation to the monitoring and management of contaminated material during remediation works (including the transportation of contaminated materials through the London Borough of Hillingdon). 1.5 It is considered that the impact of the proposed development on land within the London Borough of Hillingdon has not been adequately addressed by the Applicant. 2.0 RECOMMENDATION: That the London Borough of Ealing be informed that the London Borough of Hillingdon raises strong objection to the proposed scheme on the following grounds: 1. The applicant has failed to demonstrate that the road network can accommodate the levels of traffic that would be generated by the development, nor has it been demonstrated that there would not be a significant worsening of conditions on the highway network within the London Borough of Hillingdon. In particular objection is raised to: • The impact of the development on the Bilton Way, which would result in a queue from the Pump Lane / Bilton Way roundabout to the Hayes bypass slip road; • The lack of any assessment of impacts arising from the development on Pump Lane / Coldharbour Lane roundabout; • Three bus routes are proposed through Pump Lane (which has a width restriction). No details of measures to prevent HGV’s using the bus route to gain access to Coldharbour Lane are proposed; Lack of a turning head at the proposed dead end with the A312. 2. The application fails to demonstrate that the development would not cause unacceptable harm to the ecology of the wider area, including Minet Country Park, the neighbouring river/blue ribbon network and Yeading Valley. The scope and timing of surveys of flora and fauna are inadequate to accurately demonstrate the presence or otherwise of endangered species. Proposed measures to mitigate for loss and fragmentation of wildlife habitat are unsatisfactory and would not offset the unacceptable harm to the ecology of the wider area caused by the development. 3. The proposed development would have significant adverse impacts on land and facilities in the London Borough of Hillingdon and the application does not provide for planning obligations to offset the impacts. Specifically, planning obligations are required for the following: • Financial contribution to implement mitigation measures and capacity enhancements to Minet Country Park made necessary by the proposed development. Financial contribution sought: £3,038,000; Central & South Planning Committee – 15 September 2009 PART I – MEMBERS, PUBLIC AND PRESS • Financial contribution to offset impacts on local educational facilities. Financial contribution sought: £821,000; • Financial contribution towards capacity enhancements in local recreational and leisure facilities: £1,000,000; • Financial contribution to implement works to enable the public realm to cope with additional users: £50,000; • Provision of construction training of Hillingdon residents, by enabling them to actively work and receive construction training on the construction site; • Require the Applicant to enter into and abide by the terms of a Sustainable Travel Plan. Additionally British Waterways requested that the following planning obligations be secured: • Financial contribution towards a strategic master plan for the wider area: £20,000; • Financial contribution towards delivery and implementation of a Waterspace Strategy: £10,000; • Financial contribution towards remediation of land between Yeading Brook and the Grand Union canal (Minet Tip): £4,000,000; • Financial contribution to implement works to improve access along the canal edge from Uxbridge Road to Bulls Bridge: £660,000. The heads of terms requested by British Waterways seek to protect human health and safety, secure enhancements to the Grand Union canal and its tow path made necessary by the development and are fully supported by the London Borough of Hillingdon . The Applicant has advised that the scheme finances are affected by exceptional development costs and as such the imposition of Planning Obligations may make the scheme financially unviable. No demonstrable evidence has been provided to verify the financial position of the development. If the obligations set out above are not satisfied the unacceptable impacts will remain and as such the application would remain unacceptable in planning terms and should be refused. 4. The proposed development includes a significant amount of retail space and the retail impact assessment submitted in support of the application does not demonstrate that the scale of the proposed retail component would not unacceptably harm existing centres. The retail study accompanying the application is considered inadequate for the following reasons: • Information relating to the existing supply of retail space (including vacancy rates) dates from 2006. The age of this Central & South Planning Committee – 15 September 2009 PART I – MEMBERS, PUBLIC AND PRESS research makes its use in 2009 unreliable. Since 2006, retailing has been going through a fundamental market correction, new retailers have opened (e.g. Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush). Vacancies have been increasing in town centres with businesses often under trading. The use of information from 2006 is simply not appropriate. • The retail economic impact assessment accompanying the application does not take account of changes to consumer spending enabled by the proposed access ways to the site from the west (including three bus routes through Pump Lane) and the impact this would have on spending in Hayes town centre. Unless the retail study, including the sequential test is revisited to consider current market conditions and the influence of the proposed access arrangements (including bus services along the Pump Lane extension) on spending patterns, the London Borough of Hillingdon objects to the scheme on the basis of its potential impacts upon Hayes Town Centre. 5. The application provides inadequate measures to ameliorate the potential impacts of remediating on site contaminants and to ensure that these works do not cause harm to human health and wider environment (potential receptors include the Guru Nanak School, users of Minet Park and adjacent land over the brook, and occupiers of any nearby housing and business areas in Hayes). Remediation works would produce emissions of dust and odours and vapours, and if not fully controlled at source, could adversely affect residents in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The application does not propose dust and odour / vapour monitoring, nor is it proposed to manage traffic leaving site (including vehicles transporting contaminated waste) so as to prevent any contaminants from entering the environment. 6. The scale of development proposed in such close proximity to the canal has the potential to cause harm to the visual amenities of the Green Belt. A greater minimum set back of buildings from the canal is required to ensure that the open appearance the Green Belt is maintained and to allow for structural landscaping to be incorporated into the proposal as a buffer between the development, the canal and Green Belt land to the west. In addition it is recommended that the London Borough of Ealing be advised of the following: 1. In relation to Objection 1 above, should the London Borough of Ealing be minded to grant planning permission despite our objections we would request that as a minimum the following conditions be imposed: