The long awaited £10 billion regeneration of the empty site of the former Earls Court Exhibition Centres came a crucial step closer when plans were approved by Hammersmith & Fulham council.
The Labour run authority’s planning committee have unanimously voted in favour of the proposals for a new neighbourhood of 4,000 homes and 20 acres of green space in west London. The plan now will go before Kensington & Chelsea council on December 9.
The approved scheme also include three new cultural venues with a combined capacity of 2,500, people, and 2.5m sq ft of workspace “focused on green tech and next-generation industries .”
The development will be supported by a zerocarbon energy network and has a zero operational carbon target as the basis of the development.
The 44 acre cleared site has stood largely unused since the demolition of the venue where Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Queen once performed in 2015. The original proposal from property company Capco was eventually abandoned after a campaign of opposition from residents on local estate.
Capco sold the site to The Earls Court Development Company - a joint venture between Delancey, Dutch pension fund manager, APG, and TfL’s Places for London - for £425 million in 2019.
The current plans also include three new cultural venues and 2.5m sq ft of workspace “focused on green tech and next-generation industries .” The development will be supported by a zerocarbon energy network and has a zero operational carbon target as the basis of the development.
The first phase includes up to 1,300 homes, public realm and the first cultural venue with enabling works due to start next year.
ECDC boss Rob Heasman said: ““Earls Court will be a new district in West London. A long-underused, centrally located, site with exceptional connectivity to deliver new homes, jobs and public space at scale - a strategic part of London’s growth agenda.
“We have worked closely with the Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham, Councillor Stephen Cowan and his team to embed the ambitions of Upstream London into the vision for Earls Court as a model of innovative urban renewal.
“We now look forward to the plans being considered by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Planning Committee and working with public and private sector partners to move into delivering the first phase of this project.”
Once complete, the final development will create £3 billion per year of economic impact to the UK economy, and support 23,500 jobs right across the country.
