SEC: Save Ealing's Centre

13th October 2008, SEC comments on Revisions to Dickens Yard Plans The Council notified 60,000 households that revisions have been submitted, by the developer St George, to the Dickens Yard Planning Application and that comments were due by 13th October.

SEC has reviewed these amendments.  In our opinion, the changes do not satisfy the objections we raised in the original application. The height and mass still remain as do the number of residential units. Review a Summary of the DY Amendments here.

SEC submitted a further letter stating that the objections made previously still stand. See SEC's Comments on the Amendments  and SEC's suggested Objection Letter.

8th October 2008, Ealing Broadway Ward Forum   Come and have your say at the Ealing Broadway ward forum on Thursday 8th October at St Stephens Church Hall, St Stephens Road W13 8pm - 9:30pm. You do not need to live in the ward to attend the meeting. The biggest issues facing our ward are the many sites in and around the ward (Ealing Broadway station, Arcadia, Dickens Yard, Ealing Broadway Centre, Lammertons and the Cinema site) that are up for sale or redevelopment. How is the Council intending to 'manage' the development of these sites as one opportunity to to invest in the future of Ealing?

1st October 2008, SEC attends Crossrail exhibition SEC visited the Crossrail exhibition in the Town Hall. The design for Ealing Broadway Station is unchanged. See the Crossrail page for more information.

30th September 2008, SEC meets Council at Public Inquiry on Permanent Extinguishment of Public Rights of Way On Tuesday 30th September, SEC and the Council met at a Public Inquiry on the permanent extinguishment of the Public Rights of Way across Dickens Yard. SEC's main objections to permanent extinguishment relate to:

·        the consequences that will arise from handing over in perpetuity the public interest in this strategically key point in the pedestrian route network through the town centre ie there will be a loss of any democratic controls.
·        This particularly matters because the whole Dickens Yard scheme is being promoted as a retail led regeneration initiative that will restore Ealing’s fortunes. If this fails there will be repercussions that nobody can foretell on the way that the Rights of Way would be managed.

LBE went first with the evidence provided by Les West (for St George), Brendon Walsh and Dick Johns and Will French provided SEC's Proof of Evidence and James Guest provided SEC's Retail Objection.

24th Sep08 SEC e-newsletter Read our e-newsletter and forward it to your contacts.

16th September 08, SEC response to Tibbalds May08 Report The Council commissioned Tibbalds to do a study of Ealing and West Ealing. Ealing Council claims that the Tibbalds report of May 2008 (Ealing Metropolitan Centre Spatial Development Framework) provides a master plan for the redevelopment of the town centre. SEC reviewed this report and concluded that the Tibbalds report is not a master plan because it only offers a framework of suggestions and useful points of detail which will contribute towards the creation of a master plan.

The Tibbalds report also presupposes that Glenkerrin’s proposals for the Arcadia Centre site and St George’s proposals for Dickens Yard site are “done deals”.  This is not the case.  SEC is concerned that Ealing Council’s attitude of “let market forces dictate” will not serve the community well, and is no substitute for a properly conceived master plan for the redevelopment and revitalisation of Ealing town centre.

The Tibbalds report at http://www.ealing.gov.uk/services/regeneration/town_centre_and_area/ealing.html shows the full extent of the potential development sites in figure 1.3 (Allocated Sites in the current UDP):

16th September 08, SEC response to Glenkerrin's Bus Park proposal for Haven Green   Glenkerrin submitted a proposal to the Council for building a Bus Park on the east side of Haven Green to which SEC has provided feedback.

20th August 08, SEC response to Glenkerrin's revised Plan for Arcadia site   Glenkerrin ran a public exhibition of their revised proposals for the Arcadia site on 25 July and 26 July. Feedback comments will be reviewed. They expect to submit a revised Planning Application in September-October. SEC attended and provided a detailed response back to Green Issues Communications.

7th Aug08 SEC e-newsletter Read our e-newsletter and forward it to your contacts.

25 & 26 July 2008, Glenkerrin returns with revised Plan for Arcadia site
A letter dated 11 July from Green Issues - on behalf of Glenkerrin - is currently being delivered locally inviting you to attend an exhibition of their revised plans for the Arcadia site.

The exhibition dates are Friday 25 July (2 pm to 8 pm) and Saturday 26 July (11 am to 4 pm) at Christ the Saviour Church's Parish Hall (opposite M & S). Please attend if you can and make sure you have some really searching questions to put to the members of the project team.

17th Jul08 SEC e-newsletter Read our e-newsletter and forward it to your contacts.

15 July 2008, Legal & General announces buyer for Ealing Broadway Centre Legal & General has entered into exclusive talks with Doughty Hanson and Plus Shops to sell its £175m, 275,000 sq ft Ealing Broadway shopping centre. See 15 July Property Week here  http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?storycode=3116316&encCode=2079231881BC011555708JTBS737226611

8 July 2008, CABE objects to Dickens Yard

CABE (Commission on the Built Environment) has informed the Council that they are not supportive of the current planning application from St George as they do not consider that the proposals gave the ‘quality of living environment’ now expected of such developments. The full text of the letter will be publicly available online at CABE’s web site shortly.

20th June 08, Statement to the Press from Nick Woolven, SEC Chairman

Save Ealing’s Centre (SEC) unites 25 residents’ groups across central Ealing from Hanwell to Acton. Ealing is our town centre, and we are very concerned about its future. SEC opposes the current Dickens Yard plans - a massive overdevelopment that does not meet the community’s needs and is much larger than what the community agreed in 2004.

The Council can only sell Dickens Yard once. It needs to be redeveloped, but must serve the community. This demands coordinated planning, and integration with the rest of the town centre including public transport provision and the new Crossrail station.

The design of the Dickens Yard flats is massive and oppressive, and the buildings will completely overshadow the Conservation Area at the heart of Ealing - including the Town Hall and Christ Church. High-rise densely populated developments are out of character and out of scale with Ealing’s existing low-rise landscape.

698 new flats in Dickens Yard, with the 704 new Arcadia Centre flats, will overwhelm the town centre and Ealing’s infrastructure. There is no provision for new schools, GP surgeries or dentists, or even new sewers. There will be no extra community facilities when Ealing is crying out for a sports, arts, leisure and cultural centre.

The proposed retail outlets are marginal at best. This will not reverse the downmarket trend in Ealing’s existing shops, many of which are already empty.

The centre of Ealing needs revitalisation, not regeneration. This can only be achieved by developing a new vision in the form of an integrated strategic master plan. Piecemeal development decisions will not work. The Dickens Yard proposals must be rejected until new plans are in place.

19th June 08, Tibbalds Report: Public Meeting

A summary of the Council's 19th June public meeting on the Tibbalds Report will be available shortly. The meeting provided an opportunity to ask questions and give views on how the centre of Ealing and West Ealing should be developed over the next 15 years.

18th Jun08, SEC e-newsletter Read our e-newsletter and forward it to your contacts.

17^th June 08, Sir Peter Hall says, " Ealing needs a Master Plan..."

At a presentation in Ealing Town Hall, Sir Peter Hall (Bartlett Professor of Town Planning) - Britain's pre-eminment town planner, remarked on the transformational opportunities and the equally huge threats to Ealing arising from Crossrail and White City.

He used a mass of evidence to examine the capacity for high density residential accommodation in town centres and concluded that for Ealing Town Centre the capacity is far less than that implied by the Arcadia or the Dickens Yard Schemes. He reported that Network Rail has decided Ealing Broadway Station is the 3rd highest priority station in the country for an upgrade given its chronic overcrowding.

He stated that Ealing needs a 'differentiator' that will attract people back to the centre. He recommended that developments in central Ealing should not take place without a Master Plan for Town Centre development and that the Arcadia and Dickens Yard sites and other potential development sites eg Ealing Broadway Centre, should be looked at as one large development opportunity to provide Ealing with a multitude of facilities including a positive move towards arts & cultural. Read a summary of Sir Peter Hall's Presentation . and view Presentation Slides of an alternative vision for the redevelopment of the Arcadia Centre proposed by Sir Peter Hall’s students at University College London.

13th Jun08, SEC e-newsletter Read our e-newsletter and forward it to your contacts

5th June 08, English Heritage say NO to Dickens Yard proposals

English Heritage, the Government's statutory adviser on the historic environment, produced a very critical report on the proposed Dickens Yard development and has publicly recommended refusal of St George's planning application for the site. English Heritage's recommendations are based on national policy guidance. In a letter to Ealing Council Planners on 5th June, 2008 it concluded:

"...The consideration of English Heritage is that the application should be recommended for refusal, as it would cause detriment to long views, the character or appearance of the conservation area, the setting of heritage assets and the integrity of the context - by means of its incongruous scale, composition, silhouette and proportion..."

Read English Heritage's Letter to Ealing Council.

2nd June 08, SEC sends Formal Letter of Complaint to Council

SEC sent a formal letter of complaint to Ealing Council on 2nd June, 2008. The complaint is about the April 2008 St George's Dickens Yard Planning Application and the Council's lack of due process in the planning procedures. Read the SEC formal Letter of Complaint in full.

1st June 08, SEC sends Report to Crossrail

SEC sent a report to Crossrail on 1st June, 2008 outlining our vision for an integrated transport interchange at Ealing Broadway station. Read the SEC Letter to Crossrail in full.

30th May 08, Richard Barnes says Dickens Yard is overdevelopment

Richard Barnes (GLA member for Ealing & Hillingdon, London's Deputy Mayor with responsibility for overseeing regeneration) reported in the Gazette on 30th May, "There should be a development Masterplan for Ealing because the pressure is on from White City and other successful shopping centres... There is no cohesive centre and people have got to look at it more imaginatively..." He went on to describe the plans for Dickens Yard as 'overdevelopment.'