Row over 2,500-home plan heads to mayor's desk

Campaigners have urged Sir Sadiq Khan to halt a major redevelopment which will see more than 2,500 homes built on a former gasworks site in west London.

The project was approved by Kensington and Chelsea councillors last year, but campaigners have criticised the lack of affordable housing and harm to a nearby Grade I-listed cemetery.

Due to the size of the scheme, final approval lays with the London mayor, who can either let the council's decision stand, refuse it or call it in for further review.

Emma Dent Coad, an Independent councillor for St Helen's ward, has written to the mayor urging a review. Sir Sadiq has been approached for comment.

Dent Coad said the plans "will not tackle severe housing deprivation in our poorest wards."

The project, jointly submitted by property development company Ballymore and Sainsbury's, would transform the former gasworks site at the northern end of Ladbroke Grove.

It has received mixed reaction with more than 1,800 objections and 1,673 letters of support submitted, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The objections also included concerns about limited transport links and potential contamination from the disused gasworks.

A spokesperson for Ballymore said the works, which include 500 affordable homes as well as a new high street, would turn the site into "a thriving place full of character" that would not only support the development's residents but thousands in the wider community.

Dent Coad told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that whilst the development "promised big," there would "be little of community benefit for the most multi-deprived ward in London."

The affordable homes in the scheme would include 342 at social rent and 158 at an intermediate rate. Although below Kensington and Chelsea Council's 35.7% target, planning officers told councillors last year it was the most financially viable level.

Dent Coad said that the development was "aimed at wealthy incomers," and would fail to reduce housing inequality in the borough.

She urged the mayor to review the scheme and "demand they improve the offer to the existing communities."

Cordelia Cembrowicz, co-chair of the Kensal House Residents' Association, has also written to the mayor with concerns that the project will overshadow the Grade I-listed Kensal Green Cemetery and parts of the canal towpath.

She said approving the project, which Historic England has criticised, "would set a concerning precedent for the treatment of heritage assets" within London's planning system.

In another submission filed on behalf of a coalition of residents and local associations, suspicions have been raised about the comments in support of the project.

According to campaigners, the majority of supporting comments began with identical wording, which they argued was "inconsistent with authentic individual responses."

The group said that "the use of paid lobbyists to generate or curate ostensibly supportive consultation material" was "increasingly" common in major development proposals.

They said "intervention" was needed to "ensure that public confidence in the planning system is not further eroded."

Elizabeth Campbell, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said in November that there was "very little space to build in Kensington and Chelsea and a very high demand for housing, so it's absolutely crucial that the opportunity is grasped with both hands."

Meanwhile, James Husband, who chaired the planning committee, said the number of homes in the project was "very significant in the context of our borough and in the end the public benefit outweighed the harms."

The Mayor of London has been approached for comment.

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