Decisions

Approval, in principle, the use of compulsory purchase powers for the acquisition of the land required for development of Church Street (Site A).  

Councillor Acton introduced this report, emphasising that the Church Street Regeneration scheme is critical to the Council’s drive to address the shortage of affordable housing in the city, delivering 2000 new homes, community spaces and other major benefits. Councillor Acton made clear that any CPO in place would be used only as a last resort and that the focus would remain on working with businesses and residents to acquire the necessary land and buildings on mutually agreeable terms.

The report outlines that where the use of compulsory purchase powers are invoked a further detailed report and the proposed Statement of Reasons would come forward to Members setting out the justification for the making of the CPO in question.

Councillor Harvey asked how the Council would support those with an emotional attachment to their home to move without invoking the use of compulsory purchase powers. Councillor Acton assured him that extensive support was in place to help residents, with a dedicated team of officers embedded within the local community to better align opportunities with individual needs.

Councillor Green noted that the decant of some residents had begun and that there were several families already scheduled to move to new homes nearby on the West End Green site in his ward. Councillor Green noted that the new homes were of a high standard, including accommodation that was dementia friendly.

Councillor Robathan reiterated that the regeneration of Church Street is a hugely important scheme for residents but that the use of any compulsory purchase powers must only be as a last resort when all other efforts to reach an agreement had been exhausted.

Prior to voting Councillor Robathan asked Hazel Best, the Council’s legal representative, to confirm that Councillor Green was able to participate in voting on this item given his role as Cabinet Member for Planning. Hazel confirmed that there was no conflict as no live planning application.

RESOLVED: Cabinet agreed that 'in principle' use of compulsory purchase powers be made available to assemble the land required for the redevelopment of Site A should all reasonable attempts to acquire the necessary land and interests fail.

PROJECT SUMMARY

The Covent Garden Neighbourhood Traffic Management Scheme (NTM) involves the

implementation of a series of measures with the objective of reducing through traffic

across the whole Covent Garden district (the district by area is located approx. 70% in City of Westminster (WCC) and 30% in London Borough of Camden (LBC)). These

measures include the introduction of pedestrian and cycle zones, traffic directional

changes and banned turns.

It is intended the scheme is implemented on a trial basis using an experimental traffic

order (ETO) with a maximum duration of 18 months. Impacts would be monitored during this trial period and minor changes made where necessary and if a problem is identified.

A final public consultation will be held towards the end of the ETO period together with a review of the scheme monitoring data. A further decision will then be sought on whether the scheme should be made permanent.

The scheme proposals have undergone extensive stakeholder and public engagement and the level of support is positive across both authorities.

WCC have obtained funding from Transport for London to cover the full estimated cost of the scheme following the approval of our funding application in December 2020. This is a WCC led project and has been developed jointly and in close collaboration with LBC.

Recommendation

This report seeks approval from the Executive Director Environment & City Management to:

1.     Proceed to the detailed design and implement the proposals identified in this report, together with capital expenditure set out in the report necessary to implement the proposals.

2.     Further decision making, such as detailed design and minor amendments to the ETO, that do not require further public consultation, are delegated to the Director of City Highways.

The scheme covers areas within the City of Westminster as well as within Camden and as such approval to proceed is also being sought in parallel by Camden officers with their respective decision makers. Camden members and officers have been supportive of these proposals from the outset.