Plan to Extend 'Golden Mile' to Chiswick High Road

Move would give Council greater flexibility in planning matters in the area

Hounslow Council has released details of its Great West Corridor Plan which would see part of Chiswick High Road incorporated into the ‘Golden Mile’ along the A4. A report on the issues arising from the consultation states that the plan is necessary due to the ‘likelihood of intensive change in the area’.

The Great West Corridor Plan will centre on the Golden Mile, a 2.5 mile stretch of the A4 Great West Road that runs from Gillette Corner in the west to Chiswick Business Park in the east incorporating the Power Road estate and the West Chiswick Conservation Area.

The Plan will give the Council more flexibility in developing the area and more tools to use to accelerate the kind of building they want to see. The Council states in the consultation documentation, in which they ask residents for their opinions about various aspects of the plan, that conservation areas and Metropolitan Open Land ‘must be respected.

The Council has recently adopted the London Borough of Hounslow Local Plan which forms part of the statutory development plan for the borough and provides an over-arching planning strategy until 2030. As part of this plan there was a Local Plan review focused on the Great West Corridor. This aims to identify the extent of the Great West Corridor and determine the ultimate employment and housing potential of the area. A Site Capacity Study has identified a potential extra 28,700 jobs and 1,600 homes in the Great West Corridor. The Local Plan for the whole borough sets out how at least 12,330 new homes will be developed across the borough between 2015 and 2030. Even this amount would not be enough to satisfy demand according to the report.

The delivery of public and private investment in transport infrastructure would be coordinated through the plan and it also seeks to accelerate the designation of the area for additional housing growth. In addition the growth of the digital and media sectors will be supported.

The Great West Corridor Plan will be developed in line with national regulations, planning policy and guidance, including the National Planning Policy Framework, which sets a presumption in favour of sustainable development. New planning reforms by the Government have given the potential for Local Plans to grant ‘planning permission in principle’ and other measures. This review of the Local Plan may lead to the use of such planning ‘tools’ should these become available.

The plan states that ‘game changing’ new transport infrastructure improvements are required for the corridor to achieve the estimated capacity of jobs and homes identified in the Site Capacity Study. A number of new transport projects are suggested including ‘The Golden Link’ a new Overground passenger service between Hounslow station and Willesden Junction via Old Oak Common, calling at Isleworth, Syon Lane, Brentford and potentially another new station in the Kew Gate ‘block’ – the name given to the development around Brentford’s new stadium. By the mid-2020s this would provide a connection to Crossrail and High Speed Two at Old Oak Common. It is hoped that part or all of the corridor will be designated as an ‘Opportunity Area’ which would help secure funding to support this new transport infrastructure.

The Council has prepared an Issues Consultation document for the Great West Corridor Plan. This is first stage in the plan making process and the Council say this provides the opportunity for ‘key stakeholders’ to shape the content of the Plan before policies start to be drafted. As part of this consultation, the Council is carrying out a ‘Call for Sites’ so site owners, businesses and residents in the area can provide their own views and put forward sites which should be included in the Local Plan review.

This consultation is open until Monday 22nd February 2016.

Comments should preferably be made using the online Word document questionnaires provided (although comments by any means will be accepted).

These should be returned by:

E-mail: LDF@hounslow.gov.uk
Post: Planning Policy, Local Plan review, Civic Centre, Lampton Road, Hounslow, TW3 4DN

The Golden Mile area earmarked for development

December 31, 2015