Profile of the proposed Dickens Yard elevation from the west

Dickens Yard is the car park behind the Town Hall. In November 2008 the Council's Planning Committee decided to support proposals for a major residential scheme by developers St. George with ground floor retail uses, despite the opposition of local people, English Heritage and CABE.

The scheme includes seven blocks of up to 14 storeys, with 698 flats, 301 residents' car parking spaces and 282 public spaces in an underground car park. It also has over 9,000 square metres of retail and restaurant space. More details of the background can be seen in the history pages.

On 2nd July, Judge Mackie QC a Deputy Judge of the High Court found against SEC supporter Tony Elley's application for permission to apply for a judicial review of the decision of the London Borough of Ealing to grant planning permission for the development of its land at Dickens Yard by St George West London Limited.

While further avenues of appeal lay open to Tony, he has decided not to pursue his case further, and SEC has insufficient resources to take it over.

SEC would like, however, to extend our thanks to Tony for taking the stand he did. We supported him in bringing his case because we think the proposals will cram too much into a confined site. It will harm the character of the town centre and adversely impact some of Ealing's most important buildings. Despite claims that the development will produce retail led regeneration benefits, it is essentially a residential development with ground floor retail units. Far too many of the new homes will be below standard one and two bedroom flats that will do little to alleviate the shortage of family housing in the Borough. Instead, it will bring added traffic congestion to our streets and increase the stress on schools, health facilities, policing and open space.

Strong criticisms of the proposals were made by the Government's Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), which provides expert independent design advice on the quality of development proposals, and English Heritage, the Government's statutory adviser on the historic environment.

Tony's legal team made a compelling case against the way that the London Borough of Ealing handled the development of its land and how Ealing's Planning Committee decided to approve it. We were therefore surprised and disappointed with the Judge's decision.

We recognise that remaining legal hurdles to the scheme going ahead have now removed but we think that there is still time to make improvements that would benefit everyone. We shall be observing closely the way the scheme proceeds to ensure it is built in accordance with the plans that Ealing has approved.

18 July 2010