Lib Dems Slam Dickens Yard Plans

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 27th Jun 2008

Tony Miller and Jon Ball at Dickens Yard

Ealing Liberal Democrats have formally objected to the Council about plans for Dickens Yard, the site behind the Town Hall which is to be redeveloped.

The Lib Dem local party in the Borough slammed the application from developers St George, after considering the details at a special policy meeting.

Ealing's town centre badly needs revitalisation, but this is not the way to do it, the group said. The plans are wrong in several ways, and ignore approved planning policy. What is required, they decided, is

1. A better mix of use - not just profit generating housing, but a balance of commercial, retail, cultural and community space. There is a need for both large and small retail units to attract different sizes of store

2. Right housing density - the proposal puts three times the recommended number of units on the space, most of them sub-standard and with no supporting facilities.

3. Better transport. With the coming of Crossrail, there must be proper integration of cars, buses, taxis and pedestrian traffic with the rail station. Neither the Arcadia nor the Dickens Yard plans deal with this.

4. Quality. New build must respect the current scale and traditional 'red brick' design of Ealing and its conservation areas, if people are to be attracted back to what is now a decaying centre.

Tony Miller, Chair of the Borough party, commented: "It is totally unacceptable for the Council to be riding roughshod over its democratically approved planning policies, just because it owns the site. It is clear that the only thing the present Tory administration has learnt from Ken Livingstone and the tram fiasco is how to ignore even the limited public consultation that has taken place."

"This plan must be rejected," he concluded, "and the Council must produce a framework for the whole area after listening to what people are saying."

Legal note: Lib Dem Councillor Jon Ball had earlier taken a stance against the Dickens's Yard proposal, but in line with planning rules, the Liberal Democrat Group on Ealing Council has not taken a collective stance on this issue.

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Full text of submission.