Green Light for Huge Cloister Corner Development

Planning committee votes overwhelmingly in favour of scheme

The borough planning committee discussing the Acton scheme. Picture: YouTube

April 6, 2023

A meeting of the Ealing borough planning committee on Wednesday night (5 April) saw permission granted for a large development in Acton proposed by Barratt London.

Councillors voted to accept the recommendation of borough planning officers that the scheme at Cloister Corner, which is near Gypsy Corner, on the junction of Horn Lane and the A40, be approved.

Subject to planning conditions, this means that the developer can commence building 300 flats in six blocks up to 17 storeys high.

A demonstration attended by around 10 people against the proposal was held prior to the meeting outside the Town Hall.

The meeting started with a council planner explaining the reasons it was decided to recommend approval for the scheme in which he said, “Any residential impacts are minor and can be mitigated”.

A resident of Court Way spoke next to oppose the application. She said she had lived for 35 years in Acton and accepted the need for new housing and that the proposed scheme was of a high quality.

However, she added that the design did not meet London Plan Policy or Ealing Council’s policy on tall buildings. She dismissed the developer’s argument that tall buildings in North and East Acton meant this area was suitable for its proposal by saying that the residential area on the other side of the A40 was different in character and to grant permission would create a precedent for high-rise buildings in a predominantly low-rise residential area.

A visualisation from Barratt of the proposed buildings with North Acton towers in the background

A spokesperson for the applicant, the head of planning for Barratt London, spoke next saying that the site had been vacant for forty years. He sought to allay residents’ fears about the proposed opening up of a pedestrian corridor through Cloister Road by saying access would be in daylight hours only.

Another visualisation of the development. Picture: Barratt London

Local councillor for North Acton, Daniel Crawford, spoke next saying he would “disagree fundamentally with officers and the report” and he went on to say that this was “one of the worst reports describing a planning application in Acton that I have ever read.”

He said that there would be a loss of green space despite the claim of the developer and the officers had not properly examined the issue of overlooking having not met with residents on site.

He pointed out that the police opposed the pedestrian corridor through the site linking it to North Acton and said this ‘will dramatically alter the character of a close-knit community’.

He added that he would not recommend Barratts to friends and family and claimed that disabled residents had not been allowed to speak at the meeting. This was later angrily denied by the Chair.

Location of the Cloister Corner development. Picture: Barratt London

In the subsequent debate most councillors expressed sympathy for the concerns of the residents but issue such as the presence of tall buildings already in the area, the need for more housing, particularly the affordable component in the plan and the desirability of improved pedestrian access caused them to support the officer’s recommendation. One councillor pointed out that most residents had pedestrians walking past their homes and therefore dismissed worries about the pedestrian corridor. Only the Conservative councillor, Greg Stafford spoke against the scheme saying it was too tall, an opinion which he said was shared by the Greater London Assembly.

When it was put to the vote, all the councillors on the committee except Cllr Stafford put their hands up to approve.