Did you know a new town is due to be built on the edge of the borough?
The proposed Old Oak would sit partly in the North Acton area and span across the boundaries of 3 London boroughs, including Ealing. So, Ealing Council is working closely with the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC), which is the Mayor of London-administered organisation set up to oversee the regeneration of the area.
The council has published a ‘legacy framework’ which sets out its priorities for this future investment, to make sure the new town would benefit existing residents and businesses, and not just new ones moving into the new town. The council’s vision includes new parks, more jobs and affordable homes.
Council leader Peter Mason said: “While OPDC is the local planning authority and regeneration agency for the area, Ealing Council remains the custodian of the communities, residents, and businesses within it. We are committed to further deepening our strong working relationship with OPDC to ensure that Old Oak offers meaningful, long-term opportunities for all our residents and businesses.”
Jobs and workspace
The council’s legacy framework places a strong emphasis on creating well-paid, good jobs in high growth sectors at Old Oak for local people. It is expected the development will help lead to the creation of 56,000 new jobs over the next 30 years.
The new WestTech London will have a key role to play in this new town which aims to provide a world-class hub for life sciences, business, and technological innovation.
Councillor Mason previously said: “WestTech London will be a game changer for Ealing in securing good growth in a high tech, emerging economy. It builds on the growing role life sciences plays in west London, and this investment marks real confidence in the future of Ealing’s new town at Old Oak and Park Royal.”
With a host of road and rail connections, including the new HS2 hub, and Heathrow on its doorstep, Old Oak would be one of the best-connected places in the UK. This could help the borough attract further investment and support economic growth.
The council’s vision is for a focus on the creation of new workspace and industrial floorspace to accommodate business growth. It also wants to encourage employers based at Old Oak to pay the London Living Wage.
New homes
Among the approximately 25,000 new homes likely to be built at the site, the council’s framework suggests that half should be affordable, and 1,000 should be council homes.
This would help to prevent and address the affordable housing crisis in the borough and work towards the council’s overall ambition to deliver 28,000 new homes over the next 15 years.
The framework asks for a range of housing to be provided, including homes for older residents, care leavers, families, and those needing specialist accommodation. It also states the need to include temporary housing sites in the OPDC area for immediate use, to help homeless families.
Parks and open spaces
The framework sets out an ambition of at least 4 hectares of new open space – the equivalent of almost 6 football pitches – with a minimum of 60% of it in a single location.
As well as new parks and open spaces, the framework also calls for better connectivity between existing green spaces, including the borough’s proposed new regional park and Wormwood Scrubs, Grand Union Canal, and Brent Valley.
