Metropolitan Park Greenford unanimously approved

Ealing Planning Committee unanimously approved SEGRO’s proposal to redevelop Phase 1B at Field Way, Greenford Park Central, near the Grand Union Canal and the A40.

 The scheme covers the demolition of the existing industrial buildings and structures and their replacement with up to 15,000 sq m of modern flexible industrial floorspace for Eg(iii), B2 and B8 uses, with ancillary mezzanine and office space, landscaping, yards, parking, access and other supporting infrastructure.

The current site contains four older industrial blocks built in 1965, around 12m high, providing 15,187 sq m of floorspace, plus hardstanding and car parking. More than 70 per cent of the units are vacant, and the committee accepted that the redevelopment would provide a more efficient and attractive employment-led use of the land, even though total floorspace would be slightly reduced. Depending on the final occupier mix, the scheme is expected to support between 214 and 416 full-time equivalent jobs.

Although the application was in outline, the submitted parameters plan set important controls. These include a landscape buffer of at least 15m along the western and southern boundaries, no-build zones along the eastern and northern edges, and building zones allowing structures up to 24m high across the southern part of the site, with up to 18m elsewhere. Members considered the height acceptable in the context of the wider industrial estate, where similar-scale buildings already exist, including the nearby Alladin building.

The committee was also persuaded that the buffering and setbacks would reduce impacts on the canal, the conservation area to the west, and the Green Corridor/SINC to the south. With industrial units adjoining the site to the north and east, and the nearest homes more than 100m away, the proposal was viewed as a suitable intensification of an established employment area.