Further regular updates will apear on our main page as things happen!
November 2017: 9 - 42 The Broadway planning inquiry - the effect of the inquiry abandon.
You will of course remember that SEC was set to appear at the inquiry into this development and that the inquiry was abandoned at the very last minute because the developers, Benson Elliot, had sold on the site to British Land - who also own The Broadway Centre.
SEC had raised funds to pay the costs of employing barristers and expert witnesses to contest this application.
The developers have now refunded SEC's costs paid to these witnesses and, in addition, have donated a further sum to be given to local charities in recognition of the work done by the SEC team members.
You can see the letter sent out to our supporters giving the full information and the allocation of these funds HERE
SEC have also issued a Press Release to local agencies and a copy is available HERE
SEC is now awaiting information about British Land's plans for the site and will keep you informed
4th June 2017: 9 - 42 The Broadway
As mentioned below, the planning inquiry into this development was cancelled at the last minute.
Everything is now very much in limbo until British Land (BL) produce their ideas of what should now be done with the site and since there are bound to be considerable changes, a full further planning application will probably have to be made rather than amendments to the existing permissions.
Incidentally, the site details may change as BL only own the freehold to 10 - 40 The Broadway (i.e. not the little shop on the corner of Haven Place and not the shop opposite the station and home to The Ealing Club) and may not own freehold to number 2 Haven Place.
Meanwhile, SEC is keeping a close eye on the matter and will also be investigating where we should go now.
More information is available on our 9 - 42 The Broadway page HERESEC has received this e-mail from The Planning Inspectorate informing us that the inquiry arranged to start on Tuesday 9th May has been cancelled!
We don't know the full details of why this is, except that British Land recently purchased the site from Benson Elliot and I quote from their correspondence:-
"This purchase means that we now have a unique opportunity to manage a broad slice of the town centre to create an even more accessible and attractive place for local people and visitors. We would like some time to consider how our ownerships in Ealing can work most cohesively and will be reviewing the options whilst liaising with key stakeholders."
We will be re-grouping soon to decide what to do next and will keep you updated via our e-mail system or on this page.
However we had
already set out full details of that inquiry for our supporters and
that can be seen HERE You can also see the
background to the inquiry and how SEC's preparations progressed and
details of the statements that had been prepared by our team to be
presented at that inquiry HERE
10th April 2017: 9-42 The Broadway campaign
There is now more information being posted about the Public Inquiry and also Ealing Today have just published their latest information on the 9 - 42 scheme generally. Their page can be found HERE
7th February 2017: 9-42 The Broadway campaign
SEC has now been contacting our supporters and previous donors to collect the donations required to fight the plans for 9 - 42 The Broadway. As of today, we have received £20,137 - about 80.5% of our original required target of £25,000. However please help out by sending donations now anyway and circulating details of this campaign to friends and family who might wish to support us in preventing more wholesale destruction of Ealing Broadway. In the meantime we would very much like to thank all of you who have donated so far.
More details of the inquiry can be found via the previous update information below or via the 9-42 The Broadway link in the lefthand column of this page.
We now hear that the whole site - previously known as Arcadia - and the subject of our campaign to stop the devlopment that received Planning Permission from Ealing Council back in 2016 is about to be sold again!
British Land, who already own The Broadway Centre opposite, has made an offer in the region of £50m for the whole site to Benson Elliott who in turn bought it from Glenkerrin when they went into administration.
There will undoubtedly be changes to the Benson Elliot plans and it is not known what impact this may have on the upcoming public inquiry.
There is a bit more on this on the Central Ealing Neighbourhood Forum page at http://www.centralealingforum.com/
1st, 12th and 19th December 2016
There was a pre-inquiry meeting with the inspector and all main interested parties held in Ealing Town Hall on Wednesday 30th November - You can find some brief notes about what was said there via our 9-42 link on the left column or directly HERE (this opens in a new tab). You can also see the notes taken at the meeting by The Secretary of State's representative HERE and details of the timing of the inquiry HERE
23rd November 2016:
SEC has also just issued a press release about the campaign and you can read it as a pdf HERE and has just sent this e-mail to our supporters with more information. You can read it HERE
21st October 2016: Historic England (previously known as English Heritage)
have just issued their "Heritage at Risk 2016" List which includes searchable entries for the UK and contains quite a few entries for places and buildings in Ealing. You can search their full list via their website at https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/ and there is a summary for Central Ealing available HERE
Historic England have been very supportive in our campaign to prevent some of the 9 - 42 Broadway scheme as proposed.
CENF has produced it's neighbourhood plan for Central Ealing. Drafted by local residents and businesses working together though the forum. It is now out for public consultation.
The Plan will influence how the town centre develops over the next ten years. If approved at referendums next year, it will become part of the Ealing Borough plan to 2026.You can read all about them and their submission plans on their web page which can be found HERE and learn how individuals and businesses can comment through the councils web site at https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201164/local_plans/1243/latest_consultation
If you wish to get regular updates from CENF, you can sign up for their mailing list at http://eepurl.com/p8405
16th June 2016:
Ealing Today have just added an update to their page about the controversial plans for 9 - 42 The Broadway, entitled "Campaigners say council should have listened to objections" You can see their full article HERE
9th June 2016:- SEC has just issued the following Press Statement:-
9-42 The Broadway, Ealing - Planning Application P/2015/3479
Save Ealing's Centre (SEC) has now been granted official participant (Rule 6) satus by the Planning Inspectorate in the public inquiry into the widely criticised application to knock down existing buildings and re-develop this large site within the Ealing Town Centre conservation area.
This means that SEC will be playing a full part in the public inquiry, as we did for the Glenkerrin application for the same site that was refused after a previous inquiry in 2009. The inquiry is likely to take place in early 2017.
SEC will be supported by Ealing Civic Society and the Local Conservation Area panels.
National specialist hertiage adviser Historic England, who also object strongly to the application, will be appearing as another Rule 6 official participant.
We believe that this very costly public inquiry could have been avoidede if London Borough of Ealing planning department had taken proper account of the many objections based on planning policy that they received.
As always, if you want to see a more sympathetic development on this site and would like to offer support to SEC, please write to mail@saveealingscentre.com to be added to our mailing list (approximately one e-mail sent out every 2 weeks at present)
2nd June 2016:- SEC calls on councillors to correct problems with planning in Ealing.
SEC has now written formally to Ealing Councillors as a result of The Secretary of State's call-in for the 9-42 development and asking "what is going wrong" with the council planning functions and waht they, as councillors, should be doing?
The full text of the letter can be seen HERE and there is also a report on the Ealing Today site HERE
24th May 2016:- 9 - 42 Broadway latest update on the result of our appeal to The Secretary of State.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has called in the plans for this redevelopment scheme and have requested further information from Ealing's Planning department.
They particularly request to be informed as to how this scheme is consistent with Government policies on town centres for ensuring the vitality of town centres, delivering a wide choice of quality housing, conserving and enhancing the historic environment and consistent with the development plan for the area. They also wish to be informed about any other matters the inspector deems relevant.
The full text of their letter can be seen HERE
SEC have issued the following Press Release:-
There is also a report on the Ealing Today website HERE
6th May 2016: 9 - 42 Broadway updates.
The request to the previous Mayor of London (Boris Johnson) to call in this development was turned down. However SEC continues in discussions with Historic England and other parties, such as The Victorian Society, to get the scale and design of this development changed.
17th March 2016:
SEC have now written to various people in Ealing Council "seeking a formal investigation in accordance with the compliants procedure into the operation of the planning department and committee, with specific reference, but not limited to, P/2015/3479" (the 9 - 42 Planning Application)
You can see the full text of the letter HERE Also Ealing Today website has an updated page referring to this request for an investigation. See it HERE
10th and 11th March 2016: Save Ealing's Centre have just issued the following Press Release:-
The fight goes on!
In Ealing we have a council that doesn't listen to public opinion. That ignores objections raised in the strongest terms by expert national heritage bodies such as Historic England, the Victorian Society and Save Britain's Heritage. That even ignores the objections of the local MP.
Fortunately this application must also be approved by the Mayor, and it seems that it doesn't comply with the London Plan.
It can also be called in by the Secretary of State. This only happens where there are issues of national importance. Strong concerns from Historic England, the national expert conservation body and the government’s advisor on the historic environment, highlight that this application does indeed have wider than local implications.
The last unsympathetic application to redevelop this site was turned down by the Secretary of State following the call-in process.
Save Ealing's Centre's next steps will be to lobby the Mayor and press the Secretary of State both directly and through our MP to request a call-in.
NOTE - The time for this has now passed and so we have just provided copies of some of the letters written.
The Victorian Society wrote two letters on 19th February HERE and 10th March HERE
SEC wrote to The Mayor of London HERE and the Secretary of State HERE
and last but certainly not least this is what we wrote to our regular subscribers to help them compose their letters to various places.
25th February 2016: 9 - 42 Broadway scheme discussed at The Planning Committee meeting
The Ealing Council Planning Committe meeting was held last night and after a one hour debate, the scheme including the 18 storey building, was passed by 8 votes to 5.
Save Ealing's Centre have issued the following Press Release:-
"Save Ealing's Centre are very disappointed with the vote, particularly given the fact that Historic England indicated clearly that the proposals are not in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other legislation. Ealing council effectively ignored these objections, along with those from local MP Dr Rupa Huq, all three Ealing Broadway Ward Councillors, the Victorian Society and SAVE (Save Britain's Heritage), and strong local opposition from SEC, Ealing Civic Society (ECS), local residents' associations, the Town Centre conservation area panel and over 1700 individuals who signed our petition. It is hard to see what was in the minds of the committee when they approved this application despite such universal condemnation."
Ealing Today have published a report on their page HERE
The Ealing Gazette's more comprehensive report is HERE
SEC will be following up this decision and we will post more details here as they emerge.
The developers
of the site
(between The Arcadia Centre and Carphone
Warehouse have made a revised
planning application which preserves the little shop at 9 Broadway
(next to the alley) and numbers 13 and 14 (at present Office clothing
store and Maplin) and sets back some of the higher levels of other
shops. However they still want to go ahead with the demolition of
Carphone Warehouse - partly to set it back and allow a 2-way cycle lane
alongside up towards Haven Green. The new building will still
be a
modern faceless block right across the street from the original pub
(now Metrobank) and the National Westminster Bank - which was the
original Ealing Town Hall.
Historic
England (the new
name for English Heritage) have made two representations to Ealing
Council and have suggested that this scheme may cause significant harm
to the historic built environment and to the significance of the
designated heritage asset (Ealing Conservation Area) and that if it
gets approval, the current boundaries might be difficult to justify.
They note that this conservation area is already highlighted in their
Conservation Management Survey as being at risk.
If,
as Historic England has
recommended, conservation area status is removed should the planning
application be passed by the Planning Committee this Wednesday 24th
February, this could lead to the floodgates being open for similar
large scale schemes in the town centre which would destroy its
character.
This
result might also mean problems with preserving other nearby areas in
central Ealing - such as further east past the station on both sides of
the main road, Bond Street and High Street and the Lamertons site
(opposite the town hall). Perhaps even as far as Ealing Green and
Pitzhangar Manor?
You can see a copy of their letter from last September HERE and the latest from this month HERE
SEC have also issued a final statement which can be viewed HEREYou can also see a copy of the proposed South elevation HERE showing how the retained old frontages will look very strange within the high modern buildings and Ealing Today have published a very good report HERE.
We must act now. Please write to object to the scheme. You can do so via the Ealing Council web site via the online form here which should automatically come up with the reference P/2015/3479 or by email to the planning officer - Steve Austin austins@ealing.gov.uk with a copy to planning@ealing.gov.uk, giving the reference P/2015/3479. You should also include your full postal address. Objections can be about height, density, loss of heritage assets, but most importantly its effect on the town centre conservation area, including the fear that it might be de-designated if the current scheme goes ahead.
UPDATE 1 - An online petition has also been started to say "Don't rip the heart out of Ealing" which we encourage you to sign.
It can be found on the "change.org" website There is no need to specifically indentify yourself if you simply untick the box at the bottom right-hand side. It is to be found HERE
As at 10pm on 21st February, this stood at over 1400 signatures having only been online for about 3 days so it is going well but we need at least 2000 so PLEASE sign! - Thanks!
UPDATE 2 - We have now received copies of more letters sent to Ealing Council from relevent bodies. Please read them to see what relevant Heritage bodies think.
From Historic England - another one today - see HERE
From Save Britain's Heritage - see HERE
From The Victorian Society - see HERE
1st October 2015: Latest updates on the 9 - 42 Broadway scheme.
The
anticipated planning
application
- P/2015/3479 - for the remainder
of the huge
Glenkerrin site has been lodged and you can still comment on it.
SEC
has submitted its formal comments and you can see their objections and
submission HERE
There
is more on this on our latest newsletter for September 2015 available
via the link on the left of this page.
21st August 2015: Latest on the 9 - 42 Broadway scheme.
The
planning Application for the redevelopment of all the land between The
Carphone Warehouse and The Arcadia Centre and between Ealing Broadway
and the railway line has now been published. This also includes 1 - 4
Haven place - the little lane with a few houses - heading off from the
main road behind Snappy Snaps.
Eveything
in that block will be demolished and new shops built at ground level
all the way around from The Arcadia Centre to Broadway Chambers
(opposite the station). The shops will be built in sections with
slightly different finishes of brick and hard surface but nothing like
the existing surfaces, mix of styles or size. Over them will be flats
set slightly back. Unfortunately even the Carphone Warehouse building -
sympathetically rebuilt after the bomb - will be demolished and
replaced with a tall square building nothing like the existing one and
totally different from the traditional Metrobank/Feathers Tavern
opposite, the National Westminster bank alongside or the shops across
the road. The blocks in Station Approach will also be set a bit back to
allow a new 2-way cycle lane and have an entrance crossing the footpath
and cycle lane to underground parking (via a lift) in the middle.
Behind,
there will be several blocks of flats of varying heights and arranged
along a new passageway with a slope down from the station
level
and leading to the church, possibly lined with shops/cafes and possibly
freely accessible to everyone. There will be gardens, but at first
floor level and only available to flat dwellers! They
are
saying that a new Jazz or similar club will be provided. We shall see!
The
main developers, Benson Elliot, have now appointed Londonewcastle (yes
that is how they spell it!) to manage the development as part of their
plan to "regenerate a resurgent West London suburb". There is a little
information at their
website but it doesn't seem to be working today! However be
warned that that page comes with very loud annoying music in the
background.
or using the usual Planning Aplication search page under the reference number P/2015/3479
However, be aware that "time is tight" as the consultation closes on 11th September!
Larger views of the current row of traditional shops and the proposed replacement are available HERE
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| As we remember it | As proposed | Scheduled to go | Nearby typical existing buildings |