MIPIM: Ambitious plans by London’s mayor to create 24,000 new homes at Old Oak Common have taken a significant step forward.
At MIPIM today, deputy mayor for planning, Sir Edward Lister, announced that City Hall is to enter detailed talks with three local authorities to create a mayoral development corporation (MDC) to drive forward the £6.2bn comprehensive regeneration of a 195-acre semi-industrial site at Old Oak Common, West London.
Mayor Boris Johnson’s office has published draft key objectives and powers for the MDC, together with its proposed boundary. The mayor’s team will shortly meet with Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent and Ealing councils to agree details so that the MDC can best maximise the significant benefits linked to the construction of a “super hub” High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail Station due to be built by 2026.
The regeneration scheme could be worth up to £6.2bn for the London economy, with the potential for Old Oak to supply up to 2.5% of the Greater London housing requirement and almost 14% of Greater London’s employment need up to 2031.
Johnson said: “The arrival of Crossrail and HS2 will lead to the creation of an entirely new city quarter for London, if we get the design and transport links right.
“By working with the three local authorities, we will be able to best maximise this once-in-lifetime opportunity to spark widespread economic and social regeneration to a part of the city that is in desperate need of major improvement.”
The proposed HS2/Crossrail station will be the same size as Waterloo, with the capacity to handle 250,000 passengers a day, and link the two largest infrastructure projects in the UK. It would also have direct access to Europe via HS1 (Eurostar).
Proposals to create an MDC are subject to public consultation and approval from the London Assembly and secretary of state. It is hoped that the MDC will be established by early summer 2015.
The proposed boundary for the MDC will be split in two. The primary regeneration area, with up to 24,000 new homes, will include Old Oak Common and Wormwood Scrubs in Hammersmith & Fulham, North Acton in Ealing and Willesden Junction in Brent. In this area, the proposed MDC will have full planning powers, the ability to charge and collect the community infrastructure levy, and the power to negotiate Section 106 agreements. It would also be able to acquire land and grant discretionary relief from non-domestic rates.
The proposed improved industrial area would include land in Ealing and Brent and support the relocation of existing industrial uses out of the primary regeneration area. Here, the MDC would only determine strategic planning applications in addition to charging and collecting the community infrastructure levy and preparing local plans.
lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette.com
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