OPDC drops Cargiant site and £250m gov funding
The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation has opted to turn away £250m in government funding, instead revising its strategy for the £26bn west London regeneration.
It has removed the 54-acre Cargiant site from its plans, and will no longer pursue the £250m Housing Infrastructure Fund grant awarded earlier this year.
Instead, it will look to partner with landowners including Network Rail and HS2 to bring forward individual parcels for development.
The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation has opted to turn away £250m in government funding, instead revising its strategy for the £26bn west London regeneration.
It has removed the 54-acre Cargiant site from its plans, and will no longer pursue the £250m Housing Infrastructure Fund grant awarded earlier this year.
Instead, it will look to partner with landowners including Network Rail and HS2 to bring forward individual parcels for development.
The Greater London Authority’s development corporation had sought to unlock the land to deliver 25,500 homes through direct delivery across 1600 acres.
Some 5,000 homes were dedicated to the 54-acre site owned by Cargiant.
In February, Cargiant called for a public inquiry into the OPDC’s regeneration plans, which it claimed were “an unprecedented waste of public money”.
The car processing and retail plant launched a scathing attack on the OPDC and demanded “an immediate halt” to further spending.
Fueled by GLA finance, the development corporate was later awarded £250m in HIF grant money. But despite an additional £10m grant from the GLA designed to unlock the grant money, it has been unable to bring development forwards.
OPDC interim chief executive had previously warned the agency would likely need to work with third parties to share the risk and provide additional investment.
The new strategy will see it revise its plans for the sites while focusing on large public sector land holdings around Willesden Junction and the proposed HS2 Interchange hub.
The OPDC added it was keen to work with Cargiant and others to support economic development, jobs and innovation in the area.
Lunts said: “This new approach to delivering the amazing potential at Old Oak and Park Royal makes good sense given the dramatic changes in market conditions over the last year or so.
“With the price of industrial land shooting up four or five-fold in as many years, earlier plans to bring forward Old Oak North are unfortunately not currently viable.
“But this in no way undermines our ambition for thousands of new homes and jobs, as these can be achieved on many nearby public sector sites where we are already working closely with our colleagues at Network Rail and HS2.”
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