Following retailer John Lewis Partnership’s answers to a series of questions posed by EALING.NEWS regarding its planned development for rental homes at its Waitrose site in West Ealing, campaign group Stop The Towers has provided its response.
John Lewis, which owns supermarket chain Waitrose, is facing local anger over its plans to redevelop its Waitrose West Ealing site into a development which includes three blocks of apartments up to 19 storeys high.
It is now providing local residents with an update on its plans today from 4pm-8pm (23 February 2023) and Saturday from 10am to 2pm (25 February 2023) at West Ealing Community Library in Melbourne Ave, W13. It says they will be there to talk to locals about its proposals and answer questions.
Ealing campaigning group, Stop The Towers (STT), had previously raised concern that John Lewis Partnership may be looking to build a 20 storey plus tower building as part of its plans to offer homes on the site which would be ready to move in 2027.
EALING.NEWS spoke to a John Lewis spokesperson who answered the following questions about the development and concerns being raised and Stop The Towers has responded to them:
| Why has John Lewis given very little notice to local people about the public exhibition? When were local people notified about the exhibition and how have they been informed? Information flyers were sent on 8 February 2023 to more than 15,000 addresses around the site to land on doorsteps around 10 February 2023. We also emailed local community and amenity groups as well as elected representatives on the 10 February 2023 to raise awareness. We updated the consultation website with a pop-up informing anyone that visited that a new round of consultation would commence on 23 February 2023. In addition to the public exhibition, all the materials will be online from 11am today and open to comment from 23 February 2023 until 13 March 2023.It appears there are three tower blocks of up to 19 storeys. Can you confirm that and also are there two staircases in each block or just one staircase in each block. We are proposing mews style homes which are ground floor plus two and ground floor plus four storeys then four buildings comprising ground floor plus ten storeys, ground floor plus 15 storeys, ground floor plus 17 storeys and ground floor plus 19 storeys. We do have two staircases in the four tallest blocks (not in the mews as they are below the height threshold). All our buildings over seven storeys or 18m have two staircases.Previously in the draft it mentioned 9-13 storeys, why has this changed? According to one source, John Lewis has been talking to Ealing Council for the past 18 months, is John Lewis aware that Ealing Council has said it would be against tall towers? The heights of the proposals are defined by the existing and emerging context neighbouring the site, including 55 West being constructed at ground floor plus 19 storeys and Green Man Estate at ground floor plus 15 storeys. The buildings would be staggered back from Alexandra Road so the taller buildings are located as far back as possible towards the railway line with the tallest building located towards the east of the site i.e. towards the Elizabeth Station, 55 West and Luminosity Court. Our analysis supports the heights proposed and we are engaging with the Local Plan process. Ealing’s adopted Local Plan sets out a target of delivering 14,000 new homes over 14 years (2012 – 2026) within the borough. However, the London Plan for Ealing targets 21,570 homes by 2029 so 2,157 homes per year. London Planning policy also directs new homes to be built in easily accessible and sustainable locations like this with great access to nearby amenities and local transport links, such as the neighbouring Elizabeth Line Crossrail Station. The size of the existing site allows the store to be redeveloped to provide a significantly improved shop while retaining a temporary shop for continuation of trade during construction. By making better use of an already developed site, we can deliver much-needed new housing, both private and affordable, for the local area as well as improved public realm and facilities. Many residents feel John Lewis is not listening to them and the needs of the local community with how this development is now looking. What does John Lewis say to this and will you make changes based on resident feedback? Will you reduce the height of these blocks to how you originally presented the idea?
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In response to John Lewis comments, a spokesperson for STT said:
“John Lewis(JLP) is using the height of one tower, as yet unbuilt, which was objected to by 3000 residents, and initially turned down for planning permission, as justification for their own cluster of towers of up to 20 storeys? “Why didn’t they put pictures of these towers, or even mention them on the 15,000 glossy leaflets they say they produced? “This is disingenuous at best. Given Ealing Council hasn’t published housing supply figures for half a decade, no-one knows how many new homes Ealing needs to meet it’s target. “And far from being well connected, this site is next to an already over-stretched Elizabeth line station which was recently subject to a BBC report about how unreliable and crowded the trains are. Finally, Ealing Council’s own site specific guidance for this site, in their latest published draft plan, is for much smaller buildings. “Let’s hope JLP listen to residents and comply with the local plan, rather than riding roughshod over the community. Is this the sort of behaviour the JLP brand stands for now?”
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EALING.NEWS asked Ealing Council for a comment on its own talks with John Lewis. A spokesperson for Ealing Council told EALING.NEWS: “The consultation began yesterday, and the public are invited and encouraged to share their thoughts on the John Lewis’s proposals for the site by visiting Waitrose West Ealing.”
