Deliverability of the Earl's Court "Masterplan" called into question by Cllr Linda Wade (Lib Dem).

On the 16th July at a full RBKC council meeting, Cllr Linda Wade and Chair of the Earl's Court Area Action Group,  under the section of a councillor being able to speak unopposed for 2 minutes on an issue of concern for their local ward, called for a "pause of the approval of the demolition of the Exhibition Centre until more is known, as otherwise we might be faced with a repeat of the Battersea Power station scenario, that was neither beneficial to the area nor constituted progress." 

Here is the full text of her speech:

It is over 18 months since a Major Planning Committee approved the Earl’s Court Redevelopment Planning Application.

That decision was based on:

1. A comprehensive bi-borough site-wide delivered Masterplan.
2. A viable and deliverable planning permission with guarantees that promised community benefits were both affordable and deliverable.
   
3. A settled political consensus and an agreed basis for bi-borough joint working

The ground has fundamentally shifted, and we must now respond flexibly to new and emerging realities:

1. A determination by Hammersmith and Fulham to review all agreements and transactions between the old administration and Capco, and their announcement of a ‘pause’ during this period of forensic examination.
   
2. The District Valuer’s Report is being questioned with the potential for a re-valuation of the entire site
   
3. TfL’s feasibility study on the relocation of the Lillie Bridge Depot is inconclusive as to its future
   
4. It is a matter of public record that not all the land in Application 1 is available to the developers
   

These factors substantially challenge the realisation of the Opportunity Area Masterplan, making the planning permissions as granted, not deliverable, and undermining the Impact Assessment studies on which they were based, making the approvals effectively unsound.

Due to the essential interdependence of the two applications areas, Application 1 cannot be viewed as a standalone permission. 

The decision date for the Demolition Reserved Matters at the peak holiday period is fundamentally undemocratic and cannot be considered to be representative of the concerns of residents and businesses.

There are too many questions that remain unanswered, I am asking the Council consider a ‘pause’ of the approval of the demolition of the Exhibition Centre until more is known, as otherwise we might be faced with a repeat of the Battersea Power station scenario, that was neither beneficial to the area nor constituted progress.