Council Submits Plans To Build Ealing's Tallest Building | ||||
26 storey tower proposed as part of massive Perceval House development
The planning application for the redevelopment of Perceval House has been submitted to Ealing Council. The proposal is for the demolition of the existing council premises and the redevelopment of the site to incorporate seven new buildings, one of which will be 26 storeys high, making it the tallest building in Ealing by a significant margin. The development would be mixed use incorporating 477 new flats, a new library, office space including new council headquarters. The project will be developed in three phases which will transform the centre of Ealing although no indication could be found on the planning documentation of the likely timescales for the scheme. The new library will be at the front of the development on Uxbridge Road. The four residential buildings including the tallest tower will be at the northern end of the site. The site is bordered by Longfield Avenue to the east, Uxbridge Road to the south, the Great Western Railway to the north, Longfield House to the west and Craven Avenue to the northwest.
Currently it is occupied by Perceval House, a six storey building used by the council which was built in 1982 and which the council say is expensive to run and would require substantial investment to maintain and improve for the future. The application has been made by Ealing Council along with their development partner Vistry, who are participating in a scheme through a subsidiary company, Emerald Ealing LLP. Originally it was scheduled to be submitted in March but has been delayed by the Covid-19 outbreak.
It is claimed by the applicant that a substantial amount of consultation has been undertaken with the community about the proposals with a flyer sent to 12,878 local addresses introducing the proposals and inviting them to the first public exhibition event. The developers say that in total, the two two-day public exhibition events held in June 2019 and February 2020 were attended by over 1,800 local people. The project team described the feedback gathered at the public exhibitions as ‘generally mixed’, with most residents expressing concern about the height of the buildings which they felt was out of character with the area. The developers argue that the height is necessary to incorporate a the level of affordable housing and deliver the council its new offices.
The Stop The Towers campaign says that this proposal would dwarf the Town Hall and Haven Green and create a precedent for similar skyscrapers in central Ealing turning it into a version of ‘Gotham City’. The official notice of the scheme will be published in the local printed newspaper. Up to this point Ealing Council have ignored government advice to make more use of online news portals to make sure residents are aware of developments that might affect them.
September 10, 2020
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