Have Your Say at Gurnell Redevelopment Consultation

Latest round of meetings begin over controversial proposals

A further public consultation over the plans to redevelop Gurnell Leisure Centre will be held next week.

It's the latest in a series of meetings led by the council with local residents and centre users.

The Council's aiming to close Gurnell next year and will undertake a £33m refurb, to include a 10-lane pool and new gym facilities.

The funding will be provided by developers Willmott Dixon who want to build 450 new homes on the site which is Metropolitan Open Land. The council has previously said there will be no affordable homes to buy or social housing but that 50% of the homes will be affordable to rent. This has caused anger with many residents who say social housing should be included in the scheme.

Locals made their feelings clear when the protested outside a recent planning committee meeting outside Ealing Town Hall. More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition which welcomes the developers financial contribution to the new swimming pool but says it is wrong to waive the usual requirement for at least 25% of new housing to be to be affordable/social stock.

The petition reads: ''We are in desperate need of affordable housing and we must all be concerned about the mass sell-off of public land. We need genuinely affordable housing, not just a new swimming pool.''

Ealing council say they are on course to achieve its target of building 7,000 affordable homes in the borough by 2026 and only a small amount of housing can be built on this particular site.

The next consultation event will be held on Thursday 20th October 2016 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Gurnell Grove Community Centre, Gurnell Grove, West Ealing W13 0AR.

11th October 2016