Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Mayor of London consults on Old Oak and Park Royal Planning Framework

04 Mar 2015, 5:00 pm

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has opened a consultation on a supplementary planning document intended to guide redevelopment in the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area (OOPROA) in west London.

The OOPROA is one of 38 areas of Greater London identified by the Greater London Authority as being capable of accommodating large scale redevelopment. It covers 950 hectares of land, incorporating Old Oak Common, Park Royal and Wormwood Scrubs, and includes parts of the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham.

The OOPROA has been earmarked for comprehensive regeneration in the London Plan. The draft Old Oak and Park Royal Planning Framework, published for consultation last week, is intended to form supplementary guidance to the London Plan. Once adopted, it will form a material consideration for planning applications and decision making in the OOPROA.

The draft Framework has proposed the redevelopment of the Old Oak area "as a sustainable mixed-use part of west London," centred around the new High Speed 2 and Crossrail station due to open in 2026. A minimum of 24,000 new homes and 55,000 new jobs are proposed for Old Oak and a mix of town centre uses are expected to be "clustered around Old Oak Common station, other transport hubs and along Old Oak High Street".

The continued protection of the Park Royal Strategic Industrial Location (SIL), which supports around 2,000 businesses with 30,000 employees, is proposed under the Framework. The creation of up to 10,000 additional jobs has been proposed within the SIL, through the intensification of uses and the accommodation of "displacement floorspace from Old Oak". The Framework also calls for the delivery of "a minimum of 1,500 new homes" and the enhancement and expansion of the existing retail centre in the area of Park Royal outside the SIL.

According to the draft Framework document, "Old Oak and Park Royal will be a sustainable new town built on brownfield land in the centre of London. It will be an exemplar in accessible, high quality and 'smart' regeneration and over the next 20 years will make a major contribution to strengthening London's role as a global city."

The consultation closes on 15 April.