Shepherd's Bush Market regeneration goes ahead despite legal challenge

The Council has confirmed that the planning permission for the regeneration of Shepherd's Bush Market does not reply on the quashed supplementary planning document, and therefore the planning permission for the regeneration still stands.

A High Court judge quashed the Council's Shepherd's Bush Market Area Planning Brief – Market and Theatre Regeneration (24-pages / 1.60MB PDF), which the Council had adopted as a supplementary planning document (SPD), following a legal challenge brought by a group of local retailers.

The local retailers challenged the validity of the Council's SPD which would have paved the way for the demolition of their existing premises to make way for the wider regeneration of the Shepherd's Bush Market area.

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 remains valid.

"The High Court ruling on the SPD does not affect the Shepherd's Bush Market regeneration plans or the legality of the recently issued planning consent," said a spokesman for the Council.

"The Shepherd's Bush Market regeneration scheme represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hugely improve the market and surrounding area. It will increase retail expenditure by more than £3million a year and will create numerous new jobs," the spokesman said.

"The vast majority of Shepherds Bush residents support these plans along with many of the market traders," the spokesman said. "The Goldhawk Road businesses have been offered a fantastic deal by the developer, including the chance to return to new, larger shop units on the Goldhawk Road."

The proposed developer for the scheme OSBL said that it will aim to maintain the independent character of the market by building on the individuality of businesses that have traditionally traded at Shepherd's Bush. The developer believes that the improvement plans will bring about approximately £3.2m a year in increased retail expenditure.

The businesses whose premises would be demolished under the scheme have all been offered the opportunity to return to the new Goldhawk Road shop units that will be delivered through a phased construction programme, the Council said. The new shops will be set back from the road to make the market entrance more visible.

Work on the regeneration scheme is still planned to commence in Summer 2013.