As expected, Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s Cabinet agreed last night, September 3, to enter into a Conditional Land Sale Agreement or CLSA with developer EC Properties to include the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates in the planned redevelopment of the wider area.

The council says if planning permission is granted, it would pave the way for more than £1billion worth of community benefits in the local area, creating 9,500 permanent new jobs and 8,000 new homes – including 760 new replacement council homes.

Cllr Nicholas Botterill, Leader of H&F Council, said: “This major regeneration could lead the way in lifting the country out of recession – ploughing hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment into London’s economy and bringing thousands of new homes and jobs.

“We have said all along that the major beneficiaries of this investment have to be the residents living on West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates, followed by the wider area, the borough and London as a whole.

“We have made this decision after weighing up all arguments, looking at the economic studies and the views of our residents. We know that many people living on the estates want new homes, while many other people have concerns. If the CLSA is signed we will continue to listen to people and do our very best to address those concerns.”

Residents living on the estates have created their own steering group, chaired by Maureen Way, and have drawn up their own legally binding contracts with the council should the CLSA be signed and planning permission granted.

These promise that council tenants and resident owners will be offered compensation and a brand new replacement home in the redevelopment. Residents would only have to move once – when their new home is ready, while neighbours would be moved with neighbours.

However, a second group of residents, including the estates' two residents associations, are bitterly opposed to the plans and have fought a long campaign agains the council's proposals.

The council's own figures show that residents opposed to the plans are in the majority. You can read the background to their campaign on their blog The People's Estates.

Over 150 of the residents attended the meeting to protest the council's decision, and have today released a statement vowing to fight on and to take the battle to the courts.

An outline planning application to redevelop the area, based on Sir Terry Farrell’s masterplan, is due to be considered by H&F Council’s planning committee on September 12 - and is expected to be rubberstamped.

H & F Council say the terms of the CLSA state:

• All homes on the estate would be replaced within the redevelopment area.
• People would only have to move when their new home is ready to be occupied.
• People who are currently overcrowded on the estate would be offered a home with more bedrooms. People who are under-occupying would be offered a new home with one additional bedroom above their need.
• Secure council tenants would remain secure tenants, with rents remaining in line with the rest of the council’s housing stock, and receive £4,700 compensation per household, plus new white goods, carpets and curtains. All reasonable fees will be paid and a dedicated re-housing officer will help every step of the way.
• Resident leaseholders and freeholders would receive the market value of their home, to be independently assessed, and an extra 10% of that amount in compensation up to a cap of £47,000. They would be offered a 10% early purchase discount on the value of a new home should they wish to buy-back into the redevelopment. They would not be expected to increase their mortgage costs to do this.
• Leaseholder service charges would be capped for five years and then controlled by the council after that point.
• Tenant service charges will remain in the control of the council and only cover the services actually received.

Once the CLSA is signed the council would eventually receive approximately £105million, an estimated £54million of which, after compensation and costs, would be available to be reinvested back in the borough. The council would also receive 760 replacement homes for people currently living on the estates. Taken together independent financial advice received by the council says the CLSA would be worth £220million to £289million as a whole before costs.

If planning permission is approved on September 12 it would be based around the vision of Sir Terry Farrell’s masterplan which would create 9,500 new permanent jobs and 1,500-2,000 jobs per year in construction.

The masterplan is built on a vision of creating four separate ‘villages’ linked by a new High Street and park. Overall this would include 7,583 new homes, of which approximately 1,500 would be affordable. It would also include new shops, offices, leisure facilities, a new school, new transport links and healthcare centre.

A detailed planning application to 808 build homes at Seagrave Road has already been approved by H&F Council. If the CLSA is agreed approximately 200 of these homes would be used in a first phasing plan. People would be moved in defined blocks designed to minimise disruption, keep neighbours together and ensure that people only have to move once.

H&F Council says its next move willbe to make an application to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to transfer estates land. This is likely to be considered next March.

If the planning application is granted, H&F will refer it to the Mayor of London, while the Secretary of State also has the discretion to call it in.

 

September 4, 2012