The view or the proposed tower from Madeley Road roundabout. The Arcadia site covered the area between Ealing Broadway station and Christ Church, except for the Carphone Warehouse and Sainsburys stores on the Broadway. In 2007 Irish developer Glenkerrin wanted to demolish all existing buildings and erect seven blocks of between seven and 26 storeys, and bridging the railway to bring the frontages up to the edge of Haven Green. The scheme was revised to re-design the controversial "Leaf" building after the initial public consultation, and a picture of the proposed tower and surrounding blocks of flats is shown here. The development would have been largely residential, with 567 units, but with about 50% more retail space (shops, cafes and restaurants). There were to be 352 car parking spaces in a two-level basement accessed from Springbridge Road, 230 for the flats and 122 for retail and commercial uses including 7 disabled, and 631 cycles spaces. The application was approved by Ealing's Planning Committee in December 2008. However in January 2009 the Secretary of State decided to "call in" the application for Ministerial decision. An Inspector was appointed to hold a public inquiry, which opened on 23 June and ran for 11 days. The opposition was spearheaded by SEC, which employed its own barrister to present its case. The Inspector's recommendation that the plan should be rejected was accepted by the Secretary of State in December 2009. The plan was then withdrawn. Subsequently, Glenkerrin fell foul of the credit squeeze and the failure of the Allied Irish Bank, which had advanced most of the money. When the Irish government took over AIB and the loans were recalled, Glenkerrin's UK properties were transferred in 2011 to the UK administrators, Grant Thornton, for sale. This was finally completed when Benson Elliott, a real estate investment fund, bought the site in October 2012. Subsequentally nothing took place on the site until 2016 when plans were made to redevelop much of the site between 9 The Broadway (next to Morrisons) and around to the shops opposite the station - including Sainsburys and Carphone Warehouse which were rebuilt after the IRA bomb. You can see the full story of that area - known as 9-42 The Broadway - elsewhere on this site. datails updated 13th March 2019 and originally published on 28 Oct 2012