OPDC wins £250m HIF grant
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation has been awarded £250m from the Housing Infrastructure Fund to kick-start its £26bn west London regeneration project.
The investment will be used to assemble land, design and build roads and utilities infrastructure, enabling development of homes and business space, starting at Old Oak North.
It is the first chunk of the 1,600-acre site at Old Oak and Park Royal, which the OPDC hopes will deliver 25,000 homes in total.
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation has been awarded £250m from the Housing Infrastructure Fund to kick-start its £26bn west London regeneration project.
The investment will be used to assemble land, design and build roads and utilities infrastructure, enabling development of homes and business space, starting at Old Oak North.
It is the first chunk of the 1,600-acre site at Old Oak and Park Royal, which the OPDC hopes will deliver 25,000 homes in total.
The GLA approved £2.3m in emergency funding for the OPDC in December 2018 to support the HIF bid and enable OPDC operations to continue in the interim.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “Old Oak and Park Royal is one of the capital’s most important regeneration projects, with the capacity to deliver tens of thousands of new, genuinely affordable homes and jobs.
“This money will let us enter a new stage in the development of Old Oak, delivering the essential infrastructure to make the Old Oak dream a reality.”
OPDC chairman Liz Peace CBE said: “Investment in infrastructure in Old Oak North makes economic sense and sends the right message to the market. The £250m injection will unlock opportunities for public and private sector collaboration, making these significant regeneration opportunities a reality and with that, bringing about significant public benefit.
“This is a new phase for OPDC; expect to see development move quickly from here on in.”
In February, local landowner Cargiant called for a public inquiry into the area’s regeneration plans, which it claimed were an “unprecedented waste of public money”.
The company owns 46 acres of land at Old Oak Common and managing director Tony Mendes, said the unviable development has come at an “outrageously high cost to the public purse” and further grants would be “an unprecedented waste of public money”.
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