Manor Road Development Project Suspended
Council calls a halt to work after closure of platform at West Ealing station
A sign notifying passengers (left) and the wall showing cracks. Picture: Stop The Towers
Ealing Council has halted all construction work at the Manor Road development due to safety concerns at West Ealing station.
Eastbound trains into Paddington were not stopping at the station from Wednesday (15 March) after cracks appeared in a retaining wall by the platform. Contractor Balfour Beatty described the wall as an unsafe structure.
The council has confirmed allegations that no construction management plans for the site were received prior to the commencement of works and that work should not have started. It is widely believed that debris from the demolition of smaller structures piled up against the wall undermined its structural integrity. The council now says that work will not resume until all planning conditions have been met including the submission of any necessary documentation.
Peter Mason, leader of Ealing Council said, “Following action by Ealing Council’s building control service on Wednesday and Thursday this week (15 and 16 March), work on the demolition of buildings on the Manor Road development site has been halted. This follows concerns over an unsafe wall that has caused the closure of West Ealing station.
“Planning permission for the development at this site was initially refused by Ealing Council, but this was overturned on appeal by a government planning inspector. Planning conditions require the submission of construction management plans, amongst other documents, prior to commencement of works on site. The council has not received any discharge of these conditions to date, so work should not have commenced. Work will not be permitted to recommence until those conditions have been adequately discharged.
“The contractor, Henry Construction, have now confirmed they are appointing a planning consultant following the concerns raised by the council’s building control service, to ensure that they are operating in accordance with the planning conditions.
“Network Rail confirmed late yesterday that works had begun to remove the wall, and that they are working to get the station reopened as soon as possible.”
TfL is reporting that the eastbound platform remains closed and no indication is being given as to when it will reopen. Network Rail said on Thursday that services would be suspended at least until the weekend.
Co Chair of STT Justine Sullivan said before the announcement of the suspension of works, “From day one we said building a 22 storey tower so close to the railway and station was dangerous. The arrogance of the developers is breath-taking. But blame must lie firmly with Ealing Council who has spent the last 10 years flogging off every spare inch of land for greedy developers to build unneeded tower blocks of luxury flats and encouraging them to build higher. This is precisely why STT exists. The sheer arrogance and the greed of developers, the recklessness of the planning application and the lack of care from those on the planning committee who supported it – it is appalling. We’ve always known the site was unsuitable and now we’re in one of those ‘told you so’ moments.”
The developer Southern Grove has not responded to a request for comment.
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March 18, 2022
