Outline planning permission for an initiative to redevelop Earls Court and the West Kensington Opportunity Area was approved this week.
Outline planning permission for an initiative to redevelop Earls Court and the West Kensington Opportunity Area was approved this week.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council backed Capital Counties’ (CapCo) £8billion masterplan, which was drawn up by British architect Sir Terry Farrell and aims to create up to 7,583 new homes.
The 57 acre rejuvenation project, which is devised to replace the Earls Court Exhibition centre as well as the West Kensington and Gibb Green housing estates, features four distinct villages, a high street, a primary school, community centre and health hub.
The scheme will ultimately create 9,500 new permanent jobs and up to 2,000 jobs per year in construction, over an estimated development period of 20 years.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council Leader Cllr Nicholas Botterill expressed Britain’s need for this type of visionary, privately funded construction, in order to lift the country from the grasp of recession.
“All our residents can now look forward to a new era of prosperity and opportunity, with new homes and jobs on offer,” he said.
Residents living on the estates, with council funding, have created their own steering group, chaired by Maureen Way.
Mrs Way said that three years of hard negotiations had resulted in the best deal offered in any regeneration scheme in London which, most importantly, includes brand new homes for tenants and leaseholders.
She said: “People are very sceptical of trusting the big cats and the council. We called for a legally binding document that each tenant individually signed so they can’t get out of what they promised.
“We will get a new home on the development so we haven’t got to move, as before they said the community would be split up.”
She added: “I love Fulham; I was born here and I will die here. I hate the way it’s deteriorated so much. If there is an opportunity to build it up to benefit the people then I’m all for it.”
The largest London development since Stratford’s Olympic overhaul now faces the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council in late October as it strives to clear another hurdle in the bid for full planning rights.
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