John Lewis is facing opposition from local residents over its plans to erect 10,000 rental homes in West Ealing.
A campaign group that supports residents in West Ealing, dubbed Stop The Towers (STT), complained to Ealing council leader Peter Mason about the height of some proposed buildings.
They claim the buildings are up to 20 storeys against a maximum of 13 that is allowed in the area, the Financial Times reports.
Locals in West Ealing would be more amenable to a 13-storey building, an STT representative said.
The employee-owned retail giant, which intends to develop and rent out 10,000 homes in the next 10 years, was accused by the group of “ignoring local community sentiment in a way that is totally at odds with the genial public persona it attempts to portray”.
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STT slammed plans to demolish a Waitrose supermarket that is less than 18 years old to make room for the development, a decision it says goes against “sustainability best practice”.
They went on to criticize John Lewis for submitting its planning application during “the peak of the summer vacation period,” a time when local residents might find it challenging to evaluate and respond to it prior to the August 31 deadline.
In addition to that, despite its goal to make 35% of the homes affordable, John Lewis pledges to develop only 20% of affordable housing in West Ealing if additional funding from Greater London Authority grants is not available.
According to official data referenced by John Lewis in June, the average proportion of affordable housing in newly developed homes across England in 2022 stood at 11.4%.
John Lewis said that its project would deliver “much-needed homes for the local area” and affordable housing amid a housing crisis.
“This is an ongoing process where we’ve been working closely with a range of stakeholders and will continue to do so while the application is considered,” it told the FT.
“The plans have been submitted to Ealing and the local authority will now consider the application in line with all relevant planning policies. We are confident that Ealing will welcome feedback from local residents between now and determination of the application as has always been the case with other major applications in the borough.”
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