At a glance
• Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor has approved a 20 and 12-storey, 605-bed student accommodation scheme at Paddington Basin, overruling Westminster council
• Councillors argued the towers would harm residents’ quality of life, fail to address Westminster’s housing and homelessness crises, and contribute nothing to bringing families back to the area
• City Hall said the project equates to 242 new homes, includes 30% affordable student rooms and brings over £3.5m for affordable housing
Plans for a “twin tower” student accommodation block near Paddington station have been approved, despite a “red on red” row between the London mayor and Labour councillors.
The proposal, for one 20-storey tower and another of 12 storeys, containing a total of 605 student bedrooms, will be built alongside the canal at Paddington basin in an area known as Baltic Wharf.
The plans had been twice refused by Westminster City Council but were called in and taken over by London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan in March.
Sir Sadiq’s deputy mayor for planning, Jules Pipe, considered the scheme at a planning meeting at City Hall on Tuesday and granted approval after hearing a series of objections.
Geoff Barraclough, the Labour cabinet member for planning on Westminster council, told Mr Pipe that the development would cause “very real harm” in terms of loss of daylight, privacy and quality of life for residents living on the other side of the canal.
He said the proposal would be viewed differently if it were providing affordable homes to tackle the capital’s housing crisis.
Mr Barraclough told the planning hearing: “We have a housing crisis in Westminster. We have 4,500 families living in temporary accommodation at an enormous cost of £60m [a year]. This proposal makes no contribution to easing that crisis.”
He said central London was “emptying of children”, with the nearby Marylebone Boys’ School being only half full.
Mr Barraclough said: “This scheme will not bring families back to our city. It will not support our schools. It will not reduce the pressure on homelessness.
“If we want central London to remain a living city, with families and children and schools that are full again, then developments like this should not go ahead.”
But Mr Pipe said the scheme created the equivalent of 242 new homes, would result in a developers’ contribution more than £3.5 million to provide affordable homes in Westminster and would boost the higher education sector in London, a key part of the city’s economy.
He said that an “acceptable” 30 per cent of the overall scheme would be affordable, praised the design as “well considered” and said the overall public benefits “clearly and convincingly outweigh” the impact on heritage in the wider area.
Mr Pipe said: “We are all aware of the urgent need to deliver more homes, of all types and tenures, and particularly genuinely affordable homes if we are to tackle the housing crisis and boost economic growth.”
The site is currently occupied by a Travis Perkins builders’ yard, which will be retained, and is located south of the A40 Westway flyover and near the Maida Vale and Paddington Green conservation areas.
A report by GLA planning officials said the tallest of the two towers would stand 90m in height – 30m more than anticipated for the area.
However it was felt that the benefits of the scheme, of which 182 of the rooms will be “affordable” - would outweigh the disadvantages. The officials recommended to Mr Pipe that he approve the scheme.
Concerns were raised about the loss of daylight experienced by people living in Sheldon Square and Dudley House, on the western side of the canal, and the impact on the streetscape in Warwick Avenue and Blomfield Road.
Another Labour councillor, Sara Hassan, said the “overbearing” development would have a “devastating impact” on residents of Sheldon Square.
Conservative councillor Melvyn Caplan raised concerns about the height of the tower blocks. He said there was no need for student accommodation in the chosen location.
His Tory colleague Lorraine Dean said dozens of Little Venice residents had complained.
More than 100 objections to the plans, by Make Architects, were received by the Greater London Authority.
The developers - Unite Group Plc and Travis Perkins Plc - will create a cycleway and footpath along the canal and contribute more than £3.5 million towards the provision of affordable homes in Westminster.
The students will study at King’s College London’s campus on the Strand, a short journey away on the Bakerloo line.
Nick Brindley, of Newmark Planning and Development, told Mr Pipe: “Were the scheme to be approved today, the client is very much looking forward to delivery early in the new year.”
