Minister Sacked on Day of Tesco/Homebase Protest
Protestors advised to cancel demo just before Michael Gove got role
Hopes of campaigners now rest on this man. Picture: Chris McAndrew
Campaigners against the Tesco/Homebase development were due to protest in Westminster this Wednesday (15 September) but cancelled the event at the last minute on the advice of civil servants.
Opponents of the massive scheme were planning to gather outside Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) at 2 Marsham Street. They had intended to take their petition, which has received nearly 4,500 signatures, a 3D model of the development and placards to the ministry building from 12-2pm.
The day before the protest local residents’ group Osterley & Wyke Green Residents’ Association (OWGRA) were contacted by officers at the ministry advising them to postpone. The day chosen had inadvertently coincided with the Prime Minister’s cabinet reshuffle in which Housing Minister Robert Jenrick was sacked.
The protest was being held following the decision by the Mayor of London not to challenge Hounslow Council’s granting of planning permission to redevelop the Homebase site at Gillette Corner and the Tesco site in Syon Lane. The scheme involves the demolition of the existing Homebase store and the building of a new Tesco store on the site with 2 levels of parking above, plus 473 flats, and a residential development on the Tesco site of 1,677 homes once the existing Tesco store is demolished. 16 new tower blocks would be built of up to 17 storeys high which opponents argue is excessive in terms of height, massing and density and will transform what has previously been an area of low-rise development.
With the Mayor giving the scheme the green light, the last hope of campaigners was that the Secretary of State would ‘call-in’ the plan making it subject to a public enquiry.
Mr Jenrick was widely seen as pro-developer and there are suggestions that his proposed reforms were held responsible for a recent Tory by-election defeat in Buckinghamshire. He will probably best be remembered for consenting to a £1 billion scheme for Conservative Party Tory donor Richard Desmond after being shown details by the former pornographer on a mobile phone. His decision was later deemed to be unlawful and was quashed.
The final decision on the Tesco/Homebase plan now falls to Michael Gove. During his failed bid for leadership of the party he said, “We need a national ambition to build hundreds of thousands of new homes a year, both private and socially-rented – led by someone who will not take no for an answer and who will push for diggers in the ground and homes for all come what may.”
However, he is also on record as saying that beauty should be a primary concern of development in this country and is liable to take into account design as a factor in his ruling. Hounslow Planning Committee ignored the recommendations of the Council’s own independent Design Review Panel which reached similar conclusions to those of OWGRA.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
September 17, 2021