Westminster City Council’s Ebury Estate regeneration plans could thwart proper environmental scrutiny
The Secretary of State for Housing has been urged to order an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to cover the whole scope of Westminster City Council’s Ebury Bridge Estate redevelopment plans. Labour’s London Assembly Housing Spokesperson, Tom Copley AM, has accused the council of either avoiding or overlooking the environmental issues presented by the regeneration project by splitting it up into different schemes.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick MP, Mr Copley observes that Westminster City Council’s use of Permitted Development Rights to knock down six residential blocks on the Ebury Bridge Estate before it is redeveloped, means that the demolition plans will not be subject to an EIA.
Mr Copley highlights that, on the other hand, the proposals to build new homes on the demolition site, undergoing a separate planning process, are currently undergoing an EIA. He argues that the whole regeneration of the estate should be considered as a single process, underlining that as the demolition of the existing council homes is “an integral part” of the redevelopment, it should be included in this environmental assessment.
Mr Copley previously raised separate concerns with the Leader of Westminster City Council, Councillor Nickie Aiken, regarding the fact that the demolition works are being scheduled to take place before the formal submission of a full planning application for the wider Ebury Bridge Estate regeneration scheme. He has observed that this would leave significant uncertainty around the Estate’s future.
He has also questioned the council’s refusal to hold a residents’ ballot on the demolition of the residential blocks and their failure to apply for City Hall funding to maximise the scheme’s provision of genuinely affordable housing.
At the most recent Mayor’s Question Time session, Sadiq Khan shared Mr Copley’s concerns, observing that the council “seem quite blatantly to be trying to avoid City Hall’s and indeed the public’s scrutiny of their plans” and asserting that they “should be ashamed of their shoddy tactics”.
Labour’s London Assembly Housing Spokesperson, Tom Copley AM, said:
“It remains uncertain whether the council have overlooked, or indeed ducked, the need for robust environmental scrutiny of their plans to regenerate the Ebury Bridge Estate. By splitting up the scheme, they have muddied the waters over their proposals.
“It is clear that the council have opted for the path of least resistance with their approach to the regeneration, by refusing to carry out a residents’ ballot over the demolition of the existing homes on the site.
“This raises many questions surrounding what the council might have to hide with this scheme and why they didn’t apply for Mayoral funding to maximise the amount of genuinely affordable housing it will offer.
“It is now vital that the Secretary of State for Housing intervenes and orders the delivery of an Environmental Impact Assessment to cover all stages of the regeneration scheme”.
ENDS
Related documents
Tom Copley AM Letter to SoS for Housing RE Ebury Bridge Estate
Notes to editors
- Tom Copley AM’s letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick MP, and the two relevant attached documents, can be found attached;
- Tom Copley AM’s previous correspondence with the Leader of Westminster City Council, Nickie Aiken, can also be found attached;
- Planning documents relating to Westminster City Council’s proposals to demolish Wellesley House, Wainwright House, Dalton House, Hillersdon House, Pimlico House and Mercer House on the Ebury Bridge Estate (Prior Approval under Schedule 2, Part 11, Class B of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order can be accessed here;
- Permitted Development Rights were introduced in England in 1995, and allow certain changes to be made to a building without requiring full permission from the Local Planning Authority;
- The request for a scoping opinion submitted to Westminster City Council under Regulation 15 of The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 for the redevelopment of Ebury Bridge Estate to provide a residential led mixed-use development comprising the erection of new buildings, can be found attached as ‘Attachment B’;
- In line with Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, when considered on its own, the total area and density of the six residential blocks earmarked for demolition, under Permitted Development Rights, would not meet the 5 acre and 150 homes threshold for an EIA screening to be submitted. If both the demolition and rebuilding phases of the wider regeneration scheme were considered together, as a single process, both could be eligible for an EIA;
- In July 2018, the Mayor introduced a rule that any major regeneration schemes which involve the demolition of social homes must receive the support of existing residents through a ballot in order to be eligible for Mayoral funding;
- The Mayor’s Good Practice Guide to Estate Regeneration can be found here;
- A transcript containing the Mayor of London’s comments on the Ebury Bridge Estate Regeneration scheme during the most recent Mayor’s Question Time in October, can be found here;
- Tom Copley AM is a Londonwide Assembly Member.