Waitrose Planning Inquiry Adjourned for the Year

Decision delayed by environmental issues and new housing targets

Visualisation of the proposed blocks towering over neighbouring housing. Picture: JLP

December 5, 2024

The government’s Planning Inspector has adjourned the inquiry into John Lewis Partners’ (JLP) major development on the site of its Waitrose store in West Ealing.

This would see 428 flats in five tower blocks up to 20 storeys high with a new store on the site of the current one which was constructed 19 years ago.

A halt to proceedings considered of Ealing Council’s failure to make a determination on application (23307FUL) was called this Tuesday (3 December) with the inspector requesting time be given for consideration of environmental concerns raised by residents and new government planning guidelines.

The enquiry has been running since 19 November with proceedings viewable live online. The council has declined to formally participate in the Appeal by JLP but West Ealing activist group Stop The Towers (STT) has been granted ‘Rule 6‘ status and has employed a barrister, Piers Riley Smith, to argue the case against the plan proceeding.

STT’s barrister and its two expert witnesses have concentrated on the density, height and ‘prematurity’ of the proposals. The latter point relates to the Council’s draft Local Plan (2025- 2039) which specifies tower heights of no more than 13 storeys, whereas two of the JLP towers are 18 and 20 storeys.

Will French of Save Ealing’s Centre also provided reinforcement for the arguments being made by STT’s representatives.

Local residents’ group West Ealing Neighbours (WEN) has been represented with Eric Leach attending many of the hearings and it has made a submission to the inquiry opposing the plan.

This covered West Ealing Station’s Elizabeth Line service being believed to be unfit for purpose during rush hour, traffic chaos in the area for three years of construction and a failure to adhere to planning guidelines for car-free developments.

17 local residents have also made verbal and written submissions against the application at the inquiry. This includes a resident of The Draytons who used professional expertise in environmental matters to analyse JLP’s Environmental Impact Assessment.

The Inspector has visited the site along with representatives of STT and JLP to allow for examination of the visualisations provided by JLP showing the heights and the extent of their proposed towers. The Inspector also visited a resident on Drayton Gardens and one in Drayton Grove who installed solar roof panels on his roof which he says will be seriously compromised by the towers in the winter months when he needs them most.

The Inspector called the adjournment having heard this evidence having concluded more time was needed for JLP to provide a full response to issues raised on environmental matters and for the residents to consider and reply to JLP’s counterarguments.

In addition, a revised National Planning Policy Statement (NPPF) as well as new government housing targets are about to be published which the Inspector considers might have relevance to his decision.

It is believed that the Appeal Inquiry will probably re-convene online if not in person sometime early next year with a decision reached in the spring.

There were 738 local objections to the original planning application and it remains unclear why the council failed to make a determination or be represented at the appeal.

Eric Leach says he has heard from planning experts who say this has never happened before in Ealing or probably not in any of the other 31 Local Authorities in London. WEN was given two different reasons for the council’s decisions. On 5 September 2024 Councillor Shital Manro said ‘our lawyers advised us to do this’ and on 24 October 2024 at WEN’s public meeting at St John’s Church, west Ealing Councillor Polly Knewstub said ’it would have cost the council £1 million in legal fees to formally attend and we just could not afford this.’

A still from a video showing the development viewed from across the tracks at West Ealing Station. Picture: JLP

Mr Riley Smith, has questioned the ‘statement of common ground’ (SOCG) agreed between JLP and Ealing Council’s head of development planning which states that the only dispute between the two is how much harm the development would do to West Ealing’s heritage assets. JLP says there will be none while the council thinks harm would be ‘at the lower end of less than substantial’. STT believes this shows raises the question as to why, if it appears to have accepted in principle the height and density of the scheme and only had minor concerns about heritage risk, the application wasn’t presented to the borough planning committee.

Closing statements were made by both sides’ barristers at the final session on Perceval House and STT believes that the Inspector will need to balance the government’s desire to boost housing starts with the design concerns highlighted by Mr Riley Smith.

STT said in a statement, “We can be certain that had STT not joined the Inquiry as a Rule 6 party the scheme would have been waved through by the Inspector on the understanding nobody cared one way or the other. But even if the Inspector finds in favour of Waitrose, local people have, for once, been able to effectively register their views on a development about which they feel strongly. They have been heard with respect and what they’ve said has been replied to. Quite a contrast to the tightly controlled representations at Ealing’s planning committees, in which committee members show no interest at all. Unfortunately, no planning committee members have been at the inquiry, and so they’ve not seen how things could be done.”

If the appeal is successful, JLP believes work could start on the site next year with a completion of the project in 2029.

STT is appealing for more donations through its GoFundMe page pointing out that the ‘tip’ which it does not receive can be reduced to zero. You can also send a cheque to ‘Stop The Towers’ which can be posted to 40 Hastings Road, Ealing, W13 8QH.