CEO says scheme totally dependent on stations being built

The massive Old Oak and Park Royal development is facing uncertainty after the future of high-speed railway HS2 was called into question.

Huge project on the borders of Acton and Shepherd’s Bush has been designed around a future interchange between HS2 and Crossrail.

It is set to be the UK’s largest regeneration project, and will bring more than 25,000 new homes to the area over the next 30 years.

But now the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) chief executive has said that the future of the project could be at risk.

Liz Peace told a budget scrutiny committee at City Hall on Tuesday (11 June) that the project was being “undermined by the current political uncertainty” around HS2.

Her comments follow last week’s revelation from government that HS2 could be scrapped if it cannot keep within its £56 billion budget.

With the Conservative Party in the midst of a leadership contest, the future of the high-speed link under a new prime minister remains unclear.

But Ms Peace said that future phases of the Old Oak development would be “totally dependent on the delivery of the station”.

Once complete, the interchange between HS2 and Crossrail will be bigger than Waterloo Station, and will provide rapid links to central London, Heathrow airport, and Birmingham.

More than 3,000 homes have already received planning permission as part of the Old Oak project, with the first phase of construction currently underway.

Ms Peace said: “The whole premise of the OPDC as a mayoral development corporation is based around the interchange between HS2 and Crossrail.

“If for any reason HS2 was cancelled then the GLA and TfL would presumably take a view on whether they wanted a Crossrail station there.”

She added: “If you get neither of those then the rational for OPDC does change.”

Conservative group leader Gareth Bacon, who chairs the budget scrutiny committee, described HS2 as the “elephant in the room” for the Old Oak development.

He said: “West London has managed without regeneration in the Old Oak Common area but clearly they’d be losing out on something which will be very far-reaching and have a place-changing impact.

“There is a great opportunity to regenerate an area of London that really does need it. Without HS2 it would be difficult to see it happening.”

A new High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail Station is due to be constructed at Old Oak Common by 2026. OPDC was established in April 2015 to oversee development for the wider area and has full planning powers within its 650 hectare boundary that includes land in the boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Brent.

Jessie Mathewson - Local Democracy Reporter

June 18, 2019