This briefing event took place in the Town Hall and was useful and informative. There were 34 attendees and several presentations explained the principles and showed examples where Neighbourhood Plans had either been implemented or were still going through the process.  Two separate initiatives are being pursued : Henry Peterson advises as follows :

Old Oak Neighbourhood Forum and Plan

Proposals for a neighbourhood plan for the Old Oak area continue to be developed, and the following residents groups and amenity bodies in Ealing and in Hammersmith & Fulham, are involved in current discussions.

• The Island Site Residents Association (TITRA)
• Wells House Residents Association
• Wesley Estate Residents Association
• Residents of Midland Terrace/Shaftesbury Gardens
• Residents of the Old Oak Estate
• Friends of Wormwood Scrubs
• Brickfield Association of Residents (Eynham Road area)
• Residents of Woodman Mews

Things continue to move fast on the Mayoral Development Corporation : We have responded to two major consultations in the last month. (These will posted on our website shortly together with our version of the Vision and Objectives for the area).

The OPDC was only set up this April and is likely to exist for about 30 years until the development is complete. They are having to do catch up, appointing staff and so on. Since my last report the Opportunity Planning Area Framework (OAPF) has been formally adopted. But the team have a lot to do to assemble the formal Local Plan with all its statutory framework and consultations.

Again I reported on this in my previous News Updates. I have since attended a meeting of the Grand Union Alliance which is a grouping of the many interested groups (and individuals). Interests range from the strategic views for this whole development area to the very personal effects to which many existing residents will be subjected.

The worry is that the OPDC will just become another vehicle for large developers to promote their interests but on the other hand the possibility exists for something really amazing to come out of it. One of the major worries is that it will take between 18 months to 2 years for the OPDC to develop its Local Plan – with added consultation (Public Inquiry etc.) on top of that : In the meantime developers such as Car Giant are pushing on with their plans and have to be assessed against the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Planning Area Framework (OAPF) which is supplementary planning guidance to the Mayor’s London Plan, although this is not formally adopted yet. Apparently there were 3,500 responses to the consultation on this of which 3,400 were QPR supporters. Remember QPR have no land ownership within the OPDC area at present!

As reported in my last News Update, there were consultations recently on the Car Giant proposals and for the new HS2/Crossrail Station for Old Oak Common. I thought the Car Giant proposals seem to be heading in the right direction :

Visit www.oldoakpark.co.uk

We would like to see more use being made of the canal and there is much detail to be developed before an expected planning application is submitted by the end of this year.

But the current proposals for the HS2 station are dire beyond imagination. (See attached images). The ‘photo montage’ purports to show what the new station might look like in 2041 : But there is no reference to the proposed development around the station – 24,000 new homes : 55,000 new jobs. The station looks like a massive  – well, bus shelter? – which has landed from outer space with no connections to its surroundings. And why have a whole raft of sidings for Crossrail suddenly appeared in the middle of the development area? (East of the station). Local groups including the Grand Union Alliance and Friends of Wormwood Scrubs are also rightly incensed. If this is how HS2 treat local people, it is not surprising that there is so much opposition.

OPDC visualisation

As most of you know, the Mayor of London successfully persuaded the Government that he should manage the development and planning controls around Old Oak Common and Park Royal (also includes Wormwood Scrubs) in the same manner as the Mayor was responsible for the Olympics site. The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) became official from 1 April 2015. The Acting Chief Executive is Victoria Hills and the Chief Planning Officer is William McKee (formerly of this parish – Remember him?). Things are due to move fairly quickly and are all linked in with Crossrail and HS2 which will meet if all goes well to provide a station as large as Waterloo on the site. The Hammersmith Society have asked to be a major consultee and we are due to have a meeting with OPDC in the next two weeks.