Out-Law News 1 min. read
18 Oct 2012, 3:55 pm
The Council will now seek confirmation from the Secretary of State (SoS) that it can use CPO powers to acquire all the property interests needed to facilitate the proposed development scheme. It will enter a CPO indemnity agreement with Orion Shepherds Bush Limited (OSBL), the joint venture behind the scheme, formed by Orion Land & Leisure Ltd and Development Securities PLC.
Plans for the £150 million scheme include 194 flats, 13 mews houses, 65,000 square feet of new market space, 43,000 sq ft of cafés and restaurants and 43,000 sq ft of community space.
OSBL has contractual control over the freehold interest in the majority of the properties that are part of the scheme, however the CPO will allow them to acquire all the property interests needed, including a number of freehold and leasehold interests, easements and other rights, to go ahead with the redevelopment.
The Council and OSBL has and will continue to take steps to consult and negotiate with third party owners to acquire their interests by agreement, the Council said in its statement of reasons for the decision . However, it said that it is clear that "compulsory purchase powers will need to be employed to ensure the full programme of development may be achieved within a reasonable timeframe and in order to achieve the intended regeneration benefits."
The Council granted outline planning permission for the scheme in February this year after OSBL had consulted on the plans with local residents and traders last year.
A judicial review was brought by local retailers in May this year in which a High Court judge quashed the Council's supplementary planning document for the scheme. The judge ruled that the Council's decision to adopt the planning document was "procedurally flawed" because the Council failed to follow procedure, failed to conduct a sustainability assessment and did not consider whether an environmental assessment was required.
However, the Council said that the permission for the regeneration of Shepherd's Bush Market was judged against the Council's adopted core strategy for the area, and not against the quashed SPD, so the grant of planning permission remained valid.
"The Council believes that the proposed scheme of regeneration, taken as a whole, has the potential to bring very substantial economic, retail and social benefits to Shepherds Bush," the Council said. "(The Market's) retention and regeneration is a very high order priority for the Council as a means of maintaining the distinctive history and identity of Shepherds Bush and of protecting and enhancing the local character of retailing in the Market alongside the successful operation of the large-scale Westfield centre," it said.
