Forum Topic

BTC under attack from Cllr Ellar

Hounslow Informer, Friday 15th JulyHounslow Council leader Colin Ellar has blasted THE LUMBERING progress of the Brentford town centre redevelopment. He hit out at the failure of the developer behind the project to transform the High Street, urging it to get on with the scheme.“There just doesn’t seem to be that magic spark that says ‘let’s do this’,” said Councillor Ellar.Developer Brentford Town Centre Limited had previously suggested demolition work could start this summer but so far nothing has been done. The project is set to revitalise a 10-acre site south of the high street by the canal and river with a leisure complex, supermarket, shops, restaurants, bars and new homes.Outline planning permission was granted by Hounslow Council in 2002, but finer details left to be agreed at a later date.“The project simply hasn’t moved along and I’m becoming very impatient,” said Cllr Ellar. “There is no delay coming from the council and while these thing can be very complex, now is a good time. The economy is buoyant and there is stability and low inflation.”He pointed out that redevelopment schemes in Hounslow and Feltham are well underway. “Usually, developers work these things out, because it is in their interest,” he said. “Delaying does not help anybody.”The original regeneration plan, which included a multi-screen cinema, was attacked by residents as gross overdevelopment. Problems with English Heritage, which wanted to make the whole of Brentford a conservation area, have already delayed the project by three years.Brentford Town Centre Limited could not be contacted.My reply:Sir,Councillor Ellar has hit out at BTC Ltd’s failure to progress the scheme to revitalise Brentford’s High St area. Why should he be surprised at the delays?This project was entrusted to someone who was just a small-time businessman with contacts amongst friends trading out of  anonymous off-shore companies, based in various Pacific Islands. The consortium of small-time investors was never up to the task and never intended to be. It was always their intention to sell off the project to real developers, once the value of their small parcels of land had increased sufficiently due to planning approval, - this was never a secret. “There is no delay coming from the Council” says Cllr Ellar. True enough, except that the questions should be asked, why and how a “developer” was chosen to realise the scheme who wasn’t a developer. Was the Council responsible for this? If not, who was? Therein lies the basic problem.The council have been insisting all along that the project should be done as a whole, by a “preferred developer.”  What is to stop one such company from putting forward a far better proposal than the hopelessly flawed one that BTC took up? It’s not that ownership is a planning issue, and the small-time faceless investors making up BTC in fact own quite small portions of the site, especially in the western section. And there it has been obvious that at least one of the little band has lost patience along with Cllr Ellar, having sold off some of their holdings to a Singaporean company. Ownership is becoming more fragmented rather than consolidated, and this has always been a concern for the Council.The immediate cause of delay is no longer English Heritage, whose teeth have been largely pulled by Mr Livingstone, but British Waterways. The Council are rightly concerned that the Waterside Strategy part of the application involved the destroying and endangering of Brentford’s last boatyards. They asked BTC and BW to come up with a revised Strategy two years ago, but BW seem more interested in disavowing the existence of any connection with BTC, other than being advisors! Both parties however, remain adamant that Ridgeways’ boatyard must go to make room for the new supermarket and restaurant, simply because it doesn’t fit in with their vision for the area.It is to be hoped that the latest consultation questionnaire being sent out by Hounslow Council, will reveal just what the resident’s vision is, and that this will demonstrate a desire to retain Brentford’s unique waterside heritage. Meanwhile the Council need to look into how, why and where they went wrong, in their initial handling of the project.

Nigel Moore ● 7224d4 Comments

Cllr Ellar - enough said

Gareth Evans ● 7186d

Hounslow Chronicle has published BTC’s response to Cllr Ellar’s criticisms, - they ARE going to start work NEXT year!‘2006 to be big year for Brentford Regenerationby ROBERT CUMBERTHE COMPANY behind the redevelopment of Brentford town centre has hit back at claims it is dragging its feet and has pledged 2006 will be a year of action.Council leader Colin Ellar last month blasted Brentford Town Centre Ltd for failing to start work three years after outline planning permission was granted.Demolition work was due to start this summer, but fears about fly-tipping and people trespassing led the developers to conclude it would be counter-productive.A spokesman for Martin Clarke Associates, which is managing the project, said the delays had been unavoidable and the firm was confident building work would begin early next year.[Well they still have to get detailed planning consent before starting work. Demolition consent would doubtless be easy to obtain, but describing this as building work is stretching the language.]“There was an intention to do some demolition work early,” he said. “There wouldn’t have been a problem getting permission, but it would not have helped the project. “Fly-tipping was one of our main concerns, but we were also worried about the look and the difficulty of keeping people out. We decided that leaving gaps near the High Street wouldn’t be good so we decided to wait.”[This will still be true next year, and they are quite correct that it is pointless to demolish before being in a position to start building. So talk of starting building next year, before any detailed plans have been drawn up, is as meaningless now as it was at the beginning of the year.]The firm owns a number of vacant properties dotted around the site, but still needs to purchaseseveral patches before work can begin. Plans to revitalise the 10-acre site south of the High Street, including a new leisure complex, supermarket and homes, were first unveiled in 1997. Hounslow Council granted outline planning permission in 2002 but there have been a number of setbacks since, most notably when English Heritage said it wanted to make the whole of Brentford a conservation area.[The hold up with English heritage was resolved two years ago, with British Waterways roped in to be involved in the Waterside section of the planning, and with the declaration of the Grand Union Canal as a Conservation Area.]Despite having had more than three years to secure the relevant land, the developers are confident they can do so by early next year, but still need to choose a builder and work out a timescale for the project with the council.[These last three “details” have to be resolved as part of the S106 legal agreement before full planning consent can be given. The longer BTC leave securing the necessary land parcels, the more costly it will be. It would seem that they are relying on whichever true developer they can interest in the project, to have the necessary millions to secure these. Then again, it is not simply a question of money. The largest of the businesses at least, will require re-location locally, and others will resist being bought out at all. Do BTC have grounds for confidence that the Council will step in with Compulsory Purchase Orders?]“It’s not that we haven’t been doing anything, but it’s a very complicated site,” added the spokesman. “We should see some physical work by spring next year. Once you start investing money, as we have, it costs you to sit still. It’s in our interests to push on and get it finished as quickly as possible.”[So why are the Council still waiting for the Environmental Assessment, revised Waterside Strategy and detailed plans? What unavoidable reason has delayed producing these? Detailed planning consent cannot be given in the absence of the details. Cllr Ellar is correct, the delays are solely down to BTC, and the reason I suspect, is that they simply don’t want to spend any more of their money, but would rather wait for one of the “big boys” to pick up the tab. This is what comes of entrusting such a huge project to small-time speculators.]

Nigel Moore ● 7191d

Did I say that I had faith, either in the results of the questionaire or in what would be done with them?I would still however HOPE, first that sufficient numbers made their voice heard demanding retention of waterside industries, and secondly that Hounslow would listen to and act on such concern.What more can one do? Other than publicise the realities of the situation abroad, as often and as loudly as possible?

Nigel Moore ● 7224d

Excellent letter Nigel - well done - although you appear to have more faith than I do in the impending consultation.

Phil Andrews ● 7224d