Agenda item

Resolved

            That Cabinet:

i)      agrees, in principle, that the Council use its statutory powers, including its powers of compulsory purchase to support land assembly in respect of those properties within the Site that are not in the Developer’s ownership, and to facilitate the comprehensive redevelopment of the Site, subject to the Council and the Developer entering into a CPO Indemnity Agreement (CPOIA).

ii)     delegates authority to the Director of Growth and Sustainability to negotiate and agree the terms and authorise the Council to enter into a CPOIA with the Developer summarised at paragraph 5.3 in the report.

iii)    agrees in principle to the disposal of Council land within the Site, shown on the plan in Appendix 1 of the report subject to the disposal being for best consideration under section 123 of the Local Government Act.

iv)   notes that the proposed development of the Site known as The Broadway Connection (the planning application for which is due to be submitted in August 2022) (the Development) would include the stopping up of the footpath at Haven Place, and agrees that Cabinet supports the preparation of an application to stop up Haven Place if required to facilitate the redevelopment of the Site and for the application to be progressed under officer delegations at the appropriate time.

v)     delegates authority to the Director of Growth and Sustainability to take all steps necessary to enable a CPO to be made including but not limited to:

(a) the carrying out of land referencing including without limitation the service of notices under section 16 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and/or section 5A of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981.

(b) the entry onto the Site and other land for the purpose of carrying out surveys pursuant to section 15 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (c) the preparation of a draft statement of reasons .

(d) the preparation of a draft CPO plan and schedule (e) the preparation of notices to owners, lessees and occupiers, site notices and any other notices required to be served and/or advertised in accordance with the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 should the Executive authorise the making of a CPO.

vi)   notes the current position with regard to the Site as shown on the plan in Appendix 1 of the report (the Site), noting in particular that the Site is currently incohesive and dated and British Land (the Developer) is proposing to submit a planning application for the comprehensive redevelopment of the Site and that regeneration of the Site can deliver a cohesive site with refreshed retail, significant improvements in public realm and connectivity, as well as, much needed quality office space, bringing social and environmental benefits to Ealing and contributing towards economic growth in the area.

vii)  notes that the Developer has strong financial standing and an excellent reputation and track record in carrying out and managing retail and commercially led development sites, including the existing Broadway Shopping Centre in Ealing.

Reason for Decision and OptionsConsidered

The majority of the Site was originally assembled for comprehensive redevelopment by Glenkerrin Ltd and its directors well over 10 years ago (known at that time as the Arcadia development). When Glenkerrin 3 subsequently went into administration in December 2011 the part of the Site in its ownership was subsequently disposed of by the receivers.

Proposals for the Site were then brought forward in 2015 by London Newcastle for a mixed-use scheme focusing on retail and residential (the 2015 Scheme). The 2015 Scheme was approved in principle by the Council but subject to a challenge and call-in for consideration on heritage grounds. Following this, the majority of the Site was sold to the Developer in 2017 and the 2015 Scheme was withdrawn.

The Developer now owned most, but not all, of the Site. The Developer had contacted the few remaining third-party landowners and would attempt to acquire the remaining parts of the Site through negotiation. Although the Developer would continue to negotiate to acquire all necessary land interests and rights, given the size of the Site it was likely that this would not be possible and therefore a CPO would be required to assemble the Site to enable its comprehensive redevelopment.

The Developer proposed to submit a planning application for the Development in August 2022, the Development would provide replacement retail, restaurant and café uses at ground floor and significant new office provision on the upper floors, alongside new public realm, a music venue and leisure use, and enhanced permeability across the Site, in particular the creation of a more direct route from the train station to the existing shopping centre.

Learning lessons from earlier failed proposals for the development of the Site, notably the 2015 Scheme, the Development would retain some of the most important buildings to ensure a positive contribution to conservation and heritage.

Ealing Town Centre was the main shopping and food and beverage destination in the borough and ranked as one of London’s ‘Metropolitan Centres’. According to the recent Town Centre Health Check commissioned by the Council as part of the preparation of the new local plan, Ealing’s footfall had held up relatively well since the Covid Pandemic. However, parts of it were slightly run down and in need of investment to protect the character and attraction of the area, which continued to suffer from lower business weekday footfall. The provision of new office space as well as providing jobs in itself would support the wider catchment area demand for shopping, leisure and services in the town centre. These two contributions would help support Ealing as a Metropolitan Centre and ensure it retained its competitive position compared to other centres across Greater London.

The Developer had ownership of a number of sites in the town centre, including the majority of the Site under consideration here, the Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre and International House. Considering the scale of potential investment in the wider area and the genuine opportunity to create a ‘critical mass’ of office provision sufficient to be attractive to the wider office market and to support town centre retail, leisure and service activities, the Developer had approached the Council to ask if the Council would be willing to exercise its statutory powers to enable it to complete the land assembly and facilitate the redevelopment of the Site.

Provided that the Council was satisfied that a sustainable, commercially led, cohesive redevelopment of the Site which delivered significant improvements to public realm and connectivity was consistent with the Council’s strategic planning policies for the area it was able to support the principle of a CPO for this type of redevelopment subject to the Developer indemnifying the Council in respect of its costs by means of a CPOIA. Officers were satisfied that the Scheme proposed for the Site met this requirement for the purposes of this report.

The Council acting as planning authority would of course need to be satisfied that the specific Development proposals were consistent with its strategic policies for the future planning of Ealing Metropolitan Town Centre before granting planning permission for the Development, and it was noted that an approval in principle to make a CPO to support redevelopment of the Site as described above did not prejudice the Council’s position as planning authority in the consideration and determination of specific planning application(s) for the Site (including the proposed Development) as such applications come forward. All planning applications related to the Site would be considered on their merits in the usual way.

The decision to make a CPO being sought at this stage was a decision in principle and it was proposed that a further report would be brought back to Cabinet for authority for confirmation of the making of a CPO in due course when the planning status of the Site was known, i.e., if/when both Ealing Council and the Mayor of London had resolved to approve a planning application for the proposed scheme for the Site following proper consideration of the planning merits.

The reason for requesting these ‘in principle’ decisions now was that this would give greater confidence to the Developer that a redevelopment scheme of the type described above would be deliverable in principle, as despite engaging in negotiations it may not be possible for the Developer to acquire all the remaining properties within the Site and rights required to redevelop the Site by agreement. Further, some of the work needed to prepare the CPO if required, needed to be started now and therefore the CPOIA needs to be put in place early to indemnify the Council against the cost of any work and officer time required to work with the project team to help prepare the CPO. This Developer confidence supports the Council’s strategic objectives to promote good quality economic growth and local jobs for local people in its largest and most economically significant Town Centre.

Officers have considered the option of delaying this report until later in the planning application process for the Development. However, this would not give any benefit to achieving the positive outcomes of the redevelopment of the Site and would delay the implementation of the Development consent (if granted) if indeed a CPO is later required. The planning process is separate from the Council’s executive decision making through Cabinet and it is not a legal requirements for a specific planning permission to have been granted for a site to make a CPO, it is appropriate for the Council to take an ‘in principle’ view now, and for the avoidance of doubt, such a decision does not fetter the Council's discretion as a planning authority in determining planning applications related to the Site.. In the meantime, the Developer can continue to seek to acquire the remaining property interests and rights required for redevelopment of the Site by agreement thereby potentially avoiding the need for a CPO later.