Mayor Says Gurnell Scheme Not Compliant With London Plan
Special circumstances must be shown to allow project to proceed
CGI of Gurnell scheme from the developer's web site
The Mayor’s office have responded to Ealing Council’s proposal to redevelop the Gurnell Leisure Centre by saying that the scheme does not comply with the London Plan.
In a letter to the council it is stated that the application is proposing inappropriate development on Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) ‘which is contrary to national, local and strategic policy and represents a departure from the development plan’.
However, it is added that such developments could be allowed if ‘very special circumstances’ are shown to apply and further detailed discussion and agreement is required.
Pre-application discussions had previously been held between the council and the Mayor’s representatives and as a result the use of MOL has been restricted to the previously developed parts of the site which already contain inappropriate development. However, there would be additional harm to the openness of MOL due to the increased building mass and footprint and the visual impact of the scheme.
CGI of the new leisure centre
The Mayor wants to discuss in particular the build costs of the project with the leisure centre now expected to cost over £50 million. In addition he is looking for reassurance over the phasing of the project and the means of securing the re-provision of indoor and outdoor sport and recreational facilities, landscape, biodiversity and pedestrian and cycle enhancements, as well as agreement on the flood risk strategy. The Environment Agency have objected to the plans due to the absence of an acceptable Flood Risk Assessment and supporting flood model.
The council is arguing that the special circumstances required to build in a harmful way on MOL do apply here. It says that the leisure centre is no longer fit for purpose and, because the council cannot afford to cover the whole cost an associated enabling development is needed. 543 council sites in the borough were considered as an alternative location but were all deemed unsuitable. The provision of 599 new housing units is also cited as a reason to accept some degree of harm to MOL.
At the time of writing, around1,650 objections have been received by the Council, including those from MP James Murray and Assembly Member Sian Berry. An online petition entitled ‘Save Gurnell’ at has received over 4,200 signatures.
Developer Ecoworld have launched a dedicated web site for the development.
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September 24, 2020
