Forum Topic

Michael Gove and Tesco Homebase

There could hardly be a clearer indication of how this government's housing policy is working that, on the day that Michael Gove announced he was reducing housing targets for council's that might have required them to build in the Green Belt, he overruled his own Planning Inspector to give permission for Berkeley's Tesco Homebase scheme. Green belt is not necessarily unspoilt open space and can include land which is totally suitable for development but people in the Home Counties don't want new homes built in their area. The Conservatives are under pressure in these 'blue wall' seats and are desperate to placate voters. This means that London will have to do all the heavy lifting for the government to be able to claim any progress on housing starts. That explains why Gove decided to ignore advice and the objections of thousands of local people and English Heritage and Kew Gardens and force through these huge out-of-place buildings.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 502d15 Comments

I expect it will go the same way as all the other developments in Brentford.https://www.asiabankersclub.com/property/the-brentford-project/https://www.scmp.com/presented/property/topics/invest-overseas-properties/article/3026290/brentford-regeneration-taps

Philip Baker ● 496d

Seems like social engineering instigated by people who don't really know nor care how it all pans out and who have not learned anything from past mistakes,just as long as they stay in power.That applies to both main parties equally,locally and nationally,depressingly enough.

Keith Iddon ● 496d

All he is doing is what protecting what remains of Tory powerbase seats.They have lost London entirely at both local and MP level to the huge demographic change.So why not contain that influx to London and a few other cities by overdesifying as it protects not the green belt but political assets.However it is time that Labour in London stops cow towing to overdensification and overdevelopment and the wrong housing and realising that having power will not stop the huge problems amassing from turning outer London in to a vast inner city and the social disintegration that is already apparent.Enough was enough quite some time ago.

Raymond Havelock ● 496d

Would this be the same Michael Gove who was in the cabinet throughout Covid? The very same Michael Gove who Baroness Mone approached about supplying PPE? The same Michael Gove who sat on the Laura Kuenssberg programme and said all procurement decisions were taken through 'a painstaking process by teams of civil servants' and 'the decisions were only taken after a proper, coherent and fair procurement process'? Wonder what Gove would have to say about the £60M that the Baroness and her husband have made out of this process? And the unbelievable stupidity of this woman who cannot see what it is that she has done wrong. Oh! I forgot he's too busy now - having moved on to another job that he is equally useless at.

Vanessa Smith ● 497d

It's all about votes. And pretty much a carve up by politicians.Tories have sacrificed London Boroughs as a lost cause and are happy to cram the place with more likely to Labour voters and dump all the problems in to their patch.Labour just love the prospect of being in power and having control over all these voters but won't actually solve any of the problems that will arise. Just like it cannot now.It will continue to milk the existing communities and court the rest.At the end of the day, the losers are all the long term residents who live and work here and are considered contemptible and of no importance.Party Politics is far more important than duty to local people.

Raymond Havelock ● 497d

Well LBH are probably very happy for the Government to take the flak for that development! They hellbent on concreting the Borough over anyway and there are many more huge developments in the pipeline after this. Sod the locals and the wildlife they do not  matter to the hypocrites in LBH.

David Cook ● 498d

Indeed not disputing that . Both sites are large

N V Brooks ● 501d

The current Tesco site is the larger of the two by some distance.

Keith Iddon ● 502d

Two big sites, The Homebase one is bigger then you think.

N V Brooks ● 502d

Oh, okay! That's a big site.

Susan Kelly ● 502d

And London councils of whatever hue complicit in the skullduggery because of increased council tax reciepts and a higher profile when their reps. go on the publicly funded new property junkets in places like Cannes.Nice work if you can get away with it.One of the unacceptable faces of democracy seems to be ignoring what locals want.

Keith Iddon ● 502d

Couldn't agree more.

Alison Robins ● 502d

The entire Homebase site on the corner of Syon Lane (flats above a new Tesco).The entire Tesco Osterly site redeveloped for multiple tower block housing.

N V Brooks ● 502d

I don't get where 'Tesco Homebase' is and would be glad of more detail.

Susan Kelly ● 502d

Yet again democracy being abused by it's elected upholders and existing residents walked all over and the march to create inners cities of Isleworth Osterley and Brentford marches on.And stuff the locals.

Raymond Havelock ● 502d