Together We Can Still Save Earl's Court!
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group campaigns for a significant replacement venue for the demolished iconic Earls Court Exhibition Centre, to be designed via an international competition providing a flexible space for exhibitions, sports and cultural events. The “world’s greenest venue” would be accompanied by low rise, high density, exemplary green housing with a wide range of housing options including social housing, green space, community and social infrastructure, reflecting the demographic and unique characteristics of Earl’s Court. It also campaigns for the whole Earls Court Masterplan barren site to be greened during a time of climate emergency with a number of “meanwhile” or temporary uses before works start.
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group was originally formed to bring together the different interest groups who are affected by the redevelopment of the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre to form an action group to lobby the then Mayor, Boris Johnson, and request that the planning decisions made by both the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea were called in by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Ignoring wide-scale opposition from local residents and businesses, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham approved the demolition of the world famous iconic, art moderne Earls Court Exhibition Centre and Earls Court Exhibition Centre Two which started in December 2014 and has now been completed. All that remains is a wasteland as the developer Earls Court Partnership Ltd – a joint venture between Capital and Counties Properties Plc (Capco) and Transport for London – ran into difficulties. In November 2019 it was announced that Capco were selling their share in the joint venture to the Dutch pension group APG and developer Delancey.
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group raised a petition in 2014 to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government asking that he call in the applications due to the conflict of interest for Boris Johnson in his capacity of Mayor and head of TfL, which owns a substantial part of the development site. The petition was ignored, as were other petitions raised, which together came to over 10k signatures in total.
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group believes that decision was wrong. It campaigned to save an asset that was of vital importance to the capital's and our national economy. Together, Earl’s Court’s twin exhibition halls provided West London's largest exhibition/ conference space and concert venue, representing 30% of London’s vital exhibition space and 16% of the UK’s. Despite assurances, it transpires no tangible replacement facilities will replace a loss, which economically and culturally defines the area. In January, 2017 Kensington and Chelsea Council approved a risible 644 sq m as a cultural venue on the site of the former Exhibition Centre which was 40,000 sq m!
At a stroke, we lost a unique facility that hosted concerts from Avicii, The Stones, Bowie, Madonna and Michael Jackson via George Michael and Pink Floyd to opera on an epic-scale and popular consumer shows and events such as Victoria’s Secret, The Ideal Home Show, The Royal Tournament as well as the Olympics.
This crucial and viable economic and cultural hub will be replaced by an inappropriate Canary Wharf-style city whose skyscraper towers will dominate West London’s Victorian skyline, wrecking cherished views. This utterly inappropriate designer ghetto will contain no social rented or genuinely affordable housing. The average Londoner will be priced out of urgently needed homes by speculative absentee landlords out to make a fast buck.
Over the 20 years it will take to build a site that will more than double the population of an already hopelessly over-stretched neighbourhood, and with no sensible transport solutions proposed, West London’s roads will become permanently gridlocked, further choking an area where car exhaust pollution already regularly breaks permitted EU safe levels. Together with noise pollution and light pollution from protracted night-time works, the public’s health will be endangered.
Additionally, against the majority wish of its residents, a community’s perfectly adequate homes in West Kensington comprising over 2k people were to be demolished in the name of a hungry developer’s bottom-line profit. Thankfully these estates were saved in November 2019 but this remains an ill-conceived scheme pushed through at the expense of the area's economic and cultural well-being and needs to be extensively revised.
The Lillie Bridge Depot is a centre of manufacturing excellence. It is a night time depot employing over 500 people and plays a major role in the safety of London’s transport network. The Depot has also been under threat of demolition
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group was originally formed to bring together the different interest groups who are affected by the redevelopment of the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre to form an action group to lobby the then Mayor, Boris Johnson, and request that the planning decisions made by both the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea were called in by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
Ignoring wide-scale opposition from local residents and businesses, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham approved the demolition of the world famous iconic, art moderne Earls Court Exhibition Centre and Earls Court Exhibition Centre Two which started in December 2014 and has now been completed. All that remains is a wasteland as the developer Earls Court Partnership Ltd – a joint venture between Capital and Counties Properties Plc (Capco) and Transport for London – ran into difficulties. In November 2019 it was announced that Capco were selling their share in the joint venture to the Dutch pension group APG and developer Delancey.
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group raised a petition in 2014 to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government asking that he call in the applications due to the conflict of interest for Boris Johnson in his capacity of Mayor and head of TfL, which owns a substantial part of the development site. The petition was ignored, as were other petitions raised, which together came to over 10k signatures in total.
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group believes that decision was wrong. It campaigned to save an asset that was of vital importance to the capital's and our national economy. Together, Earl’s Court’s twin exhibition halls provided West London's largest exhibition/ conference space and concert venue, representing 30% of London’s vital exhibition space and 16% of the UK’s. Despite assurances, it transpires no tangible replacement facilities will replace a loss, which economically and culturally defines the area. In January, 2017 Kensington and Chelsea Council approved a risible 644 sq m as a cultural venue on the site of the former Exhibition Centre which was 40,000 sq m!
At a stroke, we lost a unique facility that hosted concerts from Avicii, The Stones, Bowie, Madonna and Michael Jackson via George Michael and Pink Floyd to opera on an epic-scale and popular consumer shows and events such as Victoria’s Secret, The Ideal Home Show, The Royal Tournament as well as the Olympics.
This crucial and viable economic and cultural hub will be replaced by an inappropriate Canary Wharf-style city whose skyscraper towers will dominate West London’s Victorian skyline, wrecking cherished views. This utterly inappropriate designer ghetto will contain no social rented or genuinely affordable housing. The average Londoner will be priced out of urgently needed homes by speculative absentee landlords out to make a fast buck.
Over the 20 years it will take to build a site that will more than double the population of an already hopelessly over-stretched neighbourhood, and with no sensible transport solutions proposed, West London’s roads will become permanently gridlocked, further choking an area where car exhaust pollution already regularly breaks permitted EU safe levels. Together with noise pollution and light pollution from protracted night-time works, the public’s health will be endangered.
Additionally, against the majority wish of its residents, a community’s perfectly adequate homes in West Kensington comprising over 2k people were to be demolished in the name of a hungry developer’s bottom-line profit. Thankfully these estates were saved in November 2019 but this remains an ill-conceived scheme pushed through at the expense of the area's economic and cultural well-being and needs to be extensively revised.
The Lillie Bridge Depot is a centre of manufacturing excellence. It is a night time depot employing over 500 people and plays a major role in the safety of London’s transport network. The Depot has also been under threat of demolition
Latest News
Fury as Kensington and Chelsea Council backs developer's controversial plans for Earl's Court gateway site
Ignoring a record number of objections from a wide alliance of national conservation watchdogs, historical societies, angry locals and residents’ associations across RBKC - as well as an objection from the neighbouring London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham - the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s (RBKC) Major Planning Development Committee last night (29th April 2021) approved plans for what is seen as gateway building for the highly sensitive new Earls Court Masterplan. // Continue Reading 
Artist Duggie Fields has passed away.
Duggie Fields was acknowledged as a great artist. He was also an extraordinarily delightful man. Duggie loved Earl’s Court where he lived for over 50 years, and he is now one of its legends and a London icon. He was a staunch supporter of the Save Earl's Court campaign from its start in 2012 until his death. // Continue Reading 
Earl’s Court Fringe Film night
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group (ECAAG) organised its third Earl’s Court Fringe Film night on the 26th of November 2020. ECAAG’s event went online this year due to lockdown restrictions and was accessible via Twitter on @saveEarlsCourt. // Continue Reading 
The Earls Court Masterplan makes the front page
Our alternative vision for the Earls Court Masterplan made the front page of the online version of the prestigious Architect's Journal this month. You can see the article which was published on the 24th of June, 2020 here: // Continue Reading 
We meet the new developer of the Earls Court Masterplan
Our campaign has had its first meeting with the new developer of the Earls Court Masterplan, Delancey. Capco have sold their share in their joint venture with Transport for London to the Dutch Pension Group APG and Delancey. We met with Delancey's Development Director - third from left in the picture accompanying this news update. // Continue Reading 
Our new campaign for you to view
Documentary film makers The Rainbow Collective have made a new campaign film for us which shows what we will continue to fight for under the new ownership of the Earls Court Masterplan. We thank The Rainbow Collective for their time and support in making this film. // Continue Reading |
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