Campaigners have reacted angrily to Hammersmith and Fulham Council's approval of plans to build what a "massive development scheme" - which they warn may be unlawful - at the

Plans to regenerate a former BBC site in White City, creating 3,150 jobs and delivering £8million in community benefits, have been approved.

Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council’s planning applications committee last night (July 25) approved plans from Imperial College London for seven buildings, ranging from five to 35 storeys in height, on the 5.22 acre site known as the Woodlands, on Wood Lane, in White City.

The development is the second phase of a wider regeneration project by the university that will have research and teaching buildings, notably a public school of health and ‘start-up’ space for new hi-tech businesses along with a range of homes to complement the first phase postgraduate accommodation.

As well as the academic campus, there will be an underground car park and a hotel with a gym, restaurant, bar and conference facilities, built around a new public square that will be bigger than Parliament Square in Westminster. The 4,000sq m of green space at the heart of the development will be complete with objects and sculptures that children are also able to play with.

Cllr Nicholas Botterill, H&F Council Leader, said: “This development was approved on its own merits and met all planning criteria, as laid out in the council’s and mayor of London’s planning policies. It signals a huge opportunity for residents and businesses in the borough, bringing thousands of jobs and millions of pounds in investment for the local area.

As part of a legal agreement with the council, known as a Section 106 agreement, £8million will be reinvested into the area, including £2.4million towards the Cross Rail project and £4million for the east-west pedestrian link that looks set to be built under the West London rail line.

The remainder of the money will be ploughed into improvements to the local highways including the junction with Wood Lane and way-finding signposts, planting trees on Eynham Road and putting crime prevention measures in place in Wood Lane, DuCane Road and the Bentworth Triangle. It will also make financial contributions to other supporting infrastructure required in the White City Opportunity Area.

Imperial College London has also agreed to develop educational links with the two nearest schools, Burlington Danes Academy and Phoenix High School, and will allow the schools to use some of their facilities.

The scheme was drawn up by architecture firms Aukett Fitzroy Robinson and  PLP Architecture and falls within the White City Opportunity Area. Works are nearing completion on the first phase with Phase 2 due to start early next year.

Imperial College bought the 32,100sq m site just north of the Westway, off Wood Lane and Shinfield Street from the BBC in 2009 for £28million.

In October 2010, the council ’s planning applications committee voted unanimously that Imperial College London could build its Phase 1 scheme, with 606 self-contained flats for post-graduate students, nine three-bed flats for lecturers and academics, and a new ‘multi-use’ community facility plus open space and gardens at the Woodlands site.

Phase 1 of the project is expected to be completed by this September with students moving into accommodation ready for the new academic year.

Imperial College is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 14,000 students and more than 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin and fibre optics.

Despite strong protests and objections, a London council has given approval to a massive
development scheme that local residents groups warn may be unlawful.

After two and a half hours of debate, the Conservative majority on Hammersmith and Fulham
Council pushed through approval for a further phase of development on the Woodlands site
on Wood Lane in West London.

Imperial College acquired the site from the BBC in 2009. It has since built four blocks of stu-
dent accommodation. In late 2011 the college applied for planning permission for further de-
velopment, including a 35-storey block of flats, a hotel and 12 storey office buildings.

Woodlands Area Residents and the St Helens Residents Association oppose the plans. They
argue that council planning policies do not provide permission for such tall buildings on the
site, which is adjacent to residential streets and a conservation area in neighbouring Ken-
sington and Chelsea.

“The council and the GLA gave Imperial an informal green light to these proposals two years
ago,” says Henry Peterson, Chair of the St Helens Residents Association. “They are now
struggling to justify a massive overdevelopment which makes no sense at this location.
Some of the things said by planning officers at the committee meeting were greeted with
laughter and disbelief by a large audience”

Hammersmith and Fulham Council this week withdrew plans to redevelop its own Town Hall
after years of opposition from local residents and amenity groups. Council leader Nicholas
Botterill conceded that the council had “listened and learned” in response to strong opposi-
tion from local residents and the concerns of the Greater London Authority over the height of
proposed residential tower blocks.

The council does not seem to listening to residents in the north of the borough, where it has
identified White City as an Opportunity Area. However the latest planning framework for the
area is still in draft, has yet to undergo statutory consultation, or be formally adopted.

Nevertheless, council planners recommended approval for the development of the Wood-
lands site. Although Labour councillors all voted against the application, it was approved by
Conservative members who have majority control of the borough.

Representatives of local residents and amenity groups turned out to protest at the plans, car-
rying placards urging the council not to ignore the law.

Residents associations are now considering the case for legal review. This follows a similar
case in the borough where a judge recently ruled that the council had not followed the correct
planning procedures. They are calling on the Mayor of London to intervene, given the objec-
tions received from the adjacent borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which has also op-
posed the plans.

Andy Slaughter, the Labour MP for Hammersmith and the Shadow Minister for Justice, has
lent strong support to these local campaigns to protect the rights of residents. He attended
the committee meeting and said: “I’m delighted that people across the borough are fighting
back and I will do all I can to support Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith and West Kensington
residents against the wreckers in the Town Hall.”

ENDS

Issued by the St Helens Residents Association on behalf of concerned residents in North
Kensington.

The Imperial College planning application for the former Woodlands Site at 80 Wood Lane,
London W12 includes detailed plans for a 12-storey academic building, together with office
buildings, a 35-storey residential tower and an outline application for a 13-storey hotel.

The plans were approved by the Planning and Applications Committee of Hammersmith and
Fulham Council on 25 July 2012, after being deferred three times in response to objections
from local groups.

fighting plans by Imperial College to build a 35 storey tower on Wood Lane - a plan they have dubbed Imperial's Folly - are claiming victory after Hammersmith and Fulham Council postponed plans to consider the planning application.

The application will not now be considered until at least mid May - after the crucial London Mayoral Election on May 3.

The proposed tower is part of the Imperial West development being built on the former BBC Woodlands site.

The campaigners say: " We learnt this week that Hammersmith & Fulham Council will not be considering the Imperial West application at their 11th April Planning Applications Committee.   The decision has been postponed until mid May at the earliest.

" This is a real success for the growing campaign to persuade Imperial to change their plans.  The postponement is likely to have been triggered by the GLA '‘stage 1' report on the scheme.  This found that the proposals do not conform in all respects with the 2011 London Plan, and that changes are needed.  Boris Johnson has also asked that the height of the 35 storey tower be reviewed.

" So thank you to all those who have written in to Boris and to Sir Edward Lister to protest about the present proposals for Imperial West.  The campaign is having a real effect.

" Imperial College will be very unhappy at the delay, not just because of extra costs but because this disrupts plans to have building work underway and the rest of the site in a reasonable state before postgraduates arrive in the autumn to occupy the student housing blocks.  But we did warn them over a year ago that they should not dismiss lightly the views of residents living around the Woodlands site.

" The College was very keen to get the decision made this side of the London Mayor elections, to take advantage of 'the favourable planning environment' (their term) in which a Conservative-led H&F Council and GLA have been giving the scheme every encouragement.  The new GLA report still strongly supports the scheme as a whole,  but had to acknowledge areas of non-conformity with the London Plan.  

" The position now is that by the time the Mayor takes a decision on the application at ‘stage 2′, it may not be Boris who is Mayor."

The campaigners also add: " Potential over-development and tall buildings in H&F will now become a lively issue in the electoral campaign, for Mayor and for the London West Central seat.  

"The campaigns against the riverside development at Hammersmith Town Hall, the Earls Court/West Kensington controversy, the Westfield 2 proposals, concerns over the Helical Bar proposed ‘twin tower’, as well as Imperial West, are all likely to feature in the Boris v Ken tussle."

Imperial College London says it is developing a new campus on the old BBC Woodlands site in Hammersmith, just south of the Westway. Currently known as Imperial West, the new campus will be a mixed use development, combining research and teaching space with postgraduate accommodation, new homes and retail and leisure uses.

March 23, 2012