Changes made to the OPDC Local Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n During 2018, the Board of the OPDC has found it necessary to make significant changes to its plans.\u00a0 \u00a0Responses to the consultation on its 19.1 Draft Local Plan, as submitted by HS2, Transport for London, and major landowners identified insuperable obstacles to early development of \u2018Old Oak South\u2019 (the area around the planned HS2\/Queen Elizabeth Line interchange).<\/p>\n As a result, any plans and policies for this part of the OPDC area have been removed from the version of the Local Plan as submitted to the Secretary of State in October 2018.\u00a0 \u00a0The focus for early development is now on \u2018Old Oak North\u2019, the area made up of the Cargiant\/London and Regional Properties landholding along with Scrubs Lane.<\/p>\n This is the area for which a consortium commissioned by OPDC (and led by AECOM) has been carrying out detailed masterplanning.\u00a0 This work has included costing of major infrastructure proposals and testing of transport routes and development capacity.<\/p>\n The public were originally told that information on this masterplanning exercise would be made available in late 2017.\u00a0 No such information has emerged, albeit that some of the results of the AECOM work have been fed into one of the \u2018supporting studies\u2019 for the Local Plan.<\/p>\n This is a document entitled\u00a0Old Oak North Development Framework Principles<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0As a \u2018supporting study\u2019 the document offers \u2018planning guidance\u2019 but does not form part of the draft statutory development plan.\u00a0 But as we have found with the previous \u2018Development Principles\u2019 document for Scrubs Lane, the OPDC Planning Committee will no doubt treat these \u2018principles\u2019 as \u2019emerging policy\u2019 and will place reliance on them when deciding planning applications at Old Oak North.<\/p>\n The section of this document dealing with development capacity (page 47) explains that the masterplan work\u00a0identifies a total development capacity of 7,300 news homes and 73,000 sqm (Net Internal Area) of economic floorspace.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>It goes on to say\u00a0The development capacity of Old Oak North will result in the delivery of a range high densities across this place.\u00a0The average density will be 600 units per hectare.<\/strong>\u00a0This will vary across the place in response to public transport access, sensitive locations and site specific circumstances. These densities are of a scale that have only recently been delivered in London and will contribute to the form of a new London typology.<\/em><\/p>\n The reference to densities of a scale\u00a0only recently delivered in London<\/em>\u00a0we believe to relate to the Isle of Dogs and parts of the Vauxhall\/Nine Elms area.\u00a0 The St George Wharf Tower in Vauxhall is one of the tallest residential buildings in London today (at 50 storeys and 181 metres height).\u00a0 The Landmark Pinnacle residential tower at Canary Wharf (under construction) will be 75 storeys.<\/p>\n Six of the tallest residential buildings in Western Europe with planning permission are due to appear in the Isle of Dogs, Blackwall and South Poplar Opportunity Area (a Mayoral OA, as is the OPDC area).<\/p>\n Is this the \u2018new London typology\u2019 of built forms now due to arrive at Old Oak North?\u00a0 \u00a0Is this what west Londoners have asked for, in consultation responses on the OPDC Local Plan?<\/p>\n The proposals for \u2018Old Oak Park<\/a>\u2018 as consulted on by Cargiant\/London & regional Properties in 2015 and 2016, did not involve buildings of this height.\u00a0 In several meetings with London and Regional Properties and their design team, we were told that there might be a few towers of around 40 storeys and the remainder of the housing at lower heights.<\/p>\n The residential towers granted permission to date by OPDC in Scrubs lane are in the 20-25 storey range.\u00a0 \u00a0The Imperial College tower in Wood Lane, at 35 storeys, is the one and only very tall building in this part of London to date.<\/p>\n The final draft of the OPDC Local Plan provides very little information on building heights.\u00a0 \u00a0The whole plan is premised on \u2018transit oriented high density living\u2019 in order to achieve a 25,000 housing target set (with very little analysis) back in 2015.\u00a0 \u00a0But anyone reading through all the plan documentation will find nothing that provides an honest assessment of likely building heights.<\/p>\n OPDC draft policies state simply that \u2018tall buildings\u2019 will be \u2018appropriate\u2019 at certain locations.\u00a0 \u00a0Even the specific separate Tall Buildings Statement says\u00a0Identifying general heights of tall buildings is not considered to be appropriate at this time.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>Given that the Draft Local Plan has now been signed off by the OPDC Board and submitted to Government, it is not clear what other moment will be more \u2018appropriate\u2019 for some honesty and openness on this issue.<\/p>\n Cargiant\/London & Regional Properties have had their masterplanning work on hold for many months (their last public consultation was in July 2016).\u00a0 \u00a0How they now view the prospects for development of their landholding remains to be seen.\u00a0 \u00a0No construction work has started on the three major developments approved by OPDC in Scrubs Lane (North Kensington Gate, Mitre Yard, and 2 Scrubs Lane).\u00a0 The London property market is flat at best, and falling in parts of Hammersmith and in Kensington.<\/p>\n Once the dates are known for the Examination in Public of the OPDC Local Plan, the StQW Forum will prepare our evidence to give to the Planning Inspector.\u00a0 \u00a0OPDC decisions attract little London-wide public attention at present, and the EIP should provide a focus for wider interest and debate on the future of this part of London.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For our neighbourhood, the biggest planning issues on the horizon stem from the ambitious plans for regeneration of the area to our immediate north-west.\u00a0 This is the area for which the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) has been the planning authority since April 2015, taking over planning functions from LB Hammersmith & 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