Increase in Size of Friary Park Scheme Approved by Ealing Council


Development set to proceed despite determined local opposition


A visualisation of the scheme from Cap The Towers

A packed meeting of the Ealing Borough planning committee this Wednesday (19 October) saw councillors back a planning application for latest plan for a massive development at Friary Park.

All but one of the committee members voted in favour of the application after receiving a report from council planners in recommending approval of the scheme.

Sean Fletcher of the Cap The Towers group, which is opposed to scheme, addressed the committee as did Cllr Steve Donnelly, a Labour councillor who represents East Acton.

The meeting was full to capacity with two other controversial planning decisions due to be taken, at the Steyne Estate and Twyford Abbey. Both of these were also given the green light.

An earlier application (193424HYBRID) had already begun the comprehensive phased redevelopment of the site from November 2020. Construction on this phase began in March 2021 and is approaching completion.

Catalyst, in partnership with developer Mount Anvil submitted the latest application for a significant increase in the scale of the development. The number of housing units in the development was boosted from 990 to 1,228 by raising the height of some of the blocks in the development to as high as 17 storeys. The tallest towers in the scheme, which are 24 storeys high, have already gained approval in the previous application.

The estate was originally built for private sale by Laing Homes in the late 1980s but a downturn in the housing market meant that the company was unable to sell the units. The site was acquired by Catalyst Housing which occupied them with social rent tenures. Council planners described the existing 226 flats on the site as not up to the required standard and inadequately insulated. They also concluded that the large amount of parking space on the estate meant that the location was not being used efficiently and therefore allowed demolition to proceed.

 

A visualisation of the scheme from the developers
A visualisation of the scheme from the developers

Cap The Towers tried to put a stop to the application proceeding by claiming that pre-application meetings between the developer and council planning staff were not minuted which they contended was a breach of regulations.

The group produced a series of videos outlining its objections to the way the application was handled.

 

 

The reference for the scheme on the Ealing Council planning portal is 221747HYBRID.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

October 20, 2022