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GLA Mayor intervenes - Citroen Site on Capital Interchange Way

Mayor takes over application with view to boosting affordable housing26 February 2018The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today used his planning powers to step in and take over a major development that proposes to deliver a high level of affordable housing.Sadiq made a decision to intervene after Hounslow Council refused permission to build 427 new homes on the Citroen Site on Capital Interchange Way, Brentford.The plans include 40 per cent affordable homes – 107 for shared ownership and 61 based on social rent levels – together with a nursery, and retail and office space that will lead to the creation of 43 new jobs.The development also sits in a new Opportunity Area, which has been identified as having the capacity to accommodate at least 7,500 new homes and 14,000 new jobs.Hounslow Council decided to refuse permission on the underutilised site on 16 February, over concerns the development would negatively impact on local heritage sites including Kew Gardens.The impact on all heritage sites will be fully considered by the Mayor and his planning team, and City Hall will now work closely with the applicant, housing association L&Q, to try and boost the amount of affordable housing even further than the current levels of 40 per cent.

John Todd ● 2728d6 Comments

As l have remarked on another site, Brentford seems to be the cash Cow for hounslow at the moment, but we are All going to suffer in the long term

Jean Harrison ● 2643d

I must be slow on the uptake. Someone just told me about this. Is this another business being closed down for redevelopment? According to my knowledge of the area isn't this right next to the new Brentford FC stadium which is also building new flats? Opposite Chiswick roundabout where there are other planning applications being contested by Chiswick residents? Also I thought our Mayor wanted Londoner's to have cleaner air. Does anyone know the full figure of how many new flats have been built or approved in the Brentford A4/M4 corridor since 2008? Just seems out of proportion compared to Kew, Richmond and Kingston.

Steve Allum ● 2645d

I was reading a rather laughable blurb about Urban Villa holiday apartments in what was known as the 'Kew Eye' tower close to the A4/M4 and Ealing Road and it described it as a "sanctuary" and "a quiet night in amidst lush surrounds".Talk about marketing exaggeration - the lush surrounds of the GWQ development and one of the busiest two-level road corridors in Europe, not exactly what one thinks of when the words "sanctuary" or "quiet" are used.It's a sad state of affairs when there's such emphasis placed upon the supposed 'superiority' of owning your own  place over renting that people pay the prices they do to live in such environments.But, as I'll never stop saying, if the population was deterred from reproducing, this planet might last considerably longer than it otherwise will.

Adam Beamish ● 2727d

Quite right Jennifer, the other thing is who would want to live practically on the junction of the North Circular Rd. Chiswick roundabout, and the A4/M4 elevated section? Plus the flight-path to Heathrow. Why aren't the empty homes utilised, there are two 3 bed family houses near us, both Hounslow council homes, why the hell they aren't all over them double quick to get them ready to let is a mystery. Crisis what crisis? They make me furious they are so incompetent.

Vanessa Smith ● 2727d

I've posted several times about this now, but the theory is that all new residential development pays both Mayoral and local authority Community Infrastructure Levy (which is non-negotiable and in this part of the Borough is charged at £235 per square metres) with the Mayoral part funding Crossrail and the local authority part funding all the associated infrastructure improvements.I say theory because :(a) affordable housing is exempt from CIL (an initiative I don't agree with as regardless of the financial status of the occupier they still generate need/demand for infrastructure improvements)(b) it remains to be seen how the monies collected will be spent (CIL has only been in force locally for just under 3 years now, but given large-scale developments like BFC are now coming forward you'd expect to see that funding leading to significant improvements).(c) it removes the incentive/need to provide such improvements as part of a development, and we go back to the 'joke' that was the BFC approval which was laughingly promoted on the basis of community benefits despite providing 0% affordable housing and the communal floorspace originally proposed as part of the planning permission subsequently being omitted.Of course the planning system isn't great, but there's still the much bigger and fundamental issue of the complete reluctance of the state to actively deter population growth.

Adam Beamish ● 2727d

All well and good to increase the number of homes that people can, in theory, "afford" but what about the lack of public transport, the lack of space to increase public transport,  no extra medical services, no extra schools = massive "stuffing-up" of an already crammed local area with more people than can be coped with!

Jennifer Selig ● 2727d