Earl’s Court redevelopment approved despite backlash over ‘bland’ plans

The £10bn plan to redevelop Earl’s Court has been approved a decade after the venue was demolished, despite backlash from residents over the “bland” project.The 4,000-home project is set to proceed after councillors at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) gave it the go-ahead on Tuesday.Plans include 2.5 million sq ft of workspace, three cultural venues and 20 acres of public realm, with 35pc of its homes made affordable.It is one of the biggest development projects approved in London over the past five years.Developers had been awaiting the final decision after the project cleared the first planning hurdle in November, when neighbouring Hammersmith and Fulham council approved the project.Approval has come despite local resistance. The development garnered 581 objections, according to a planning report filed with RBKC, versus 182 letters of support.Those opposing the scheme in recent months criticised the project as “bland” in letters to the council, with one resident calling it an “uncreative Lego build with miserable-looking buildings”.A second resident said its tall housing towers, with one as high as 42 storeys, would create a “depressing canyon”.Concerns had also been raised that Earl’s Court would become a playground for rich investors, with its new high-rise buildings left empty by absent landlords.“This application represents ‘just another high-rise luxury scheme’ that prioritises density and commercial gain over community benefit,” said another resident.During RBKC’s committee vote on Tuesday, councillors praised the scheme, with the Conservative councillor James Husband calling the buildings “rather attractive”.Consent comes a decade after the Earls Court Exhibition Centre was demolished, which left behind a 44-acre stretch of land that became central London’s largest empty site.Up until now, developers have struggled to begin construction amid protracted debate over how the area should look and its level of affordable housing.The project is led by the Earls Court Development Company (ECDC), a joint venture between the property developer Delancey, the Dutch pension fund APG and the property arm of Transport for London.After buying the site in 2019, ECDC spent four years devising its proposal before filing it with both councils in September last year.The first stage will deliver about 1,300 homes across six buildings, including the 42-storey skyscraper. It will also feature a zero-carbon energy network. Construction of the overall project is expected to be fully completed in 2041.Rob Heasman, chief executive of ECDC, said: “Our plans will restore Earl’s Court as a global destination, a place for ingenuity, for the extraordinary and for people to wonder.“Projects of this scale require ambition, partnership and patience to bring forward, and our ambition has been shaped by four years of engagement, listening and working in collaboration with our community.”Jamie Ritblat, founder and executive chairman of Delancey, said: “This is a hugely important milestone. Earl’s Court will be a beacon for the capital’s future as a leading global city.“It will create 23,500 jobs across the country, a new centre for the UK’s climate innovation sector, circa 4,000 new homes and benefit the UK economy by £3bn per year.”