Kensington & Chelsea weighs in on Earls Court development row

The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s (RBKC) deputy leader has given his support to Hammersmith & Fulham council as it seeks to revisit developer Capco’s approved plans for Earls Court.

Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith said during a council meeting this week that he had written to Capco imploring it to “explore any opportunities to increase the level of genuinely affordable housing and social housing in the project”.

He added: “I want to make it very clear that I do not believe the continuation of this development under the current terms is right and as a minimum, if this is to continue, I want to see more social and more truly affordable housing in this scheme.”

But Taylor-Smith admitted that the RBKC did not have the “legal power to rescind our [planning] decision” to approve the 77-acre scheme in 2012.

“The application went through due process and was agreed by both boroughs,” he said.

Taylor-Smith’s support for Hammersmith & Fulham comes a week after the west London council refused Capco’s request for a new masterplan at the site as it did not “believe the proposed level of density and affordable housing could be supported or delivered”.

The council also called on the developer to hand back the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates to it, which are to be knocked down and rebuilt as part of the scheme.

A Capco spokesperson said: “Capco has completed all the land enablement works and has a site with full planning consent that is ready for development.

”We continue to work collaboratively with all relevant stakeholders to bring forward the scheme in order to generate benefits for the local and wider London community.”