The Ealing Council Planning Committee is scheduled to meet on 23 July 2025 to discuss a planning application for the redevelopment of the Southall Community Centre site, and to approve the minutes of their previous meeting. The committee will also share details of any site visits they have attended.

Here are the topics scheduled for discussion at the meeting:

Planning Application for Southall Community Centre

The committee will consider planning application 223246FUL for the Southall Community Centre, 20 Merrick Road, Southall, UB2 4AU. The proposal involves:

Demolition of existing buildings and construction of a part 6, part 8, part 10, part 16 and part 22 storey mixed-use development with part basement, comprising community and commercial uses on the ground and mezzanine floors and 215 flats above, associated cycle/vehicle parking, and a servicing bay with new access road along the southern boundary of Merrick Road

The planning officer's report recommends that the committee grant planning permission subject to a stage two referral to the Mayor of London, the completion of legal agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990¹ and section 278 of the Highways Act 1980, and subject to conditions of consent. The proposed development site is 0.35 hectares and is located on Merrick Road, south of the Southall railway and Elizabeth Line station. The site currently houses a part one, part two-storey locally listed building used as a banqueting hall with occasional community use.

The surrounding area has been subject to major development in recent years, with permissions granted for large residential-led schemes in high buildings of up to 23 storeys.

The proposal includes 215 flats, commercial and community space of 976 sq m at ground floor level, 4 disabled parking spaces, and 405 cycle parking spaces. Communal outdoor amenity space is proposed at first, sixth and eighth floor levels.

According to the report, 19% of the residential units (35 flats) would be affordable. The tenure mix of 76% shared ownership and 24% London Affordable Rent conflicts with the council's preferred tenure mix of 60% London Affordable Rent / Social rent and 40% intermediate. However, the report states that viability assessments have been undertaken and both the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the council's financial viability advisers have agreed that the scheme could not viably support more affordable housing or planning obligations than those proposed.

The report notes that the proposed development can be considered a tall building, but it lies in the 'Southall Gateway' character area of the Southall Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF), which indicates potential for taller buildings. The height of the building would be similar to that of adjoining approved buildings on the nearby Arches and Malgavita Works sites on Merrick Road.

The report also states that the scheme has been assessed against the London Plan Policy D9 criteria for tall buildings and the Ealing Housing Design Guidance (January 2022). Overall, the proposed tall building would accord with most of the London Plan Policy D9 and Ealing design guidance criteria.

The report acknowledges that the proposal would result in the loss of a local listed building, but it is not considered that the proposal would cause significant harm to nearby heritage assets. Any harm would be less than substantial and outweighed by the benefits of the proposal, including the provision of 215 new flats, a new public realm area, improved landscaping, an enhanced appearance of a prominent site, and new community/commercial space close to Southall town centre.

The proposed development would provide high standards in terms of sustainable design and construction, including a roof-mounted air source heat pump energy centre and two photo-voltaic arrays on the roof. With these measures, the overall site-wide CO2 emissions would be cut by at least 67.4%.

The development would be car-free, and Transport Services and Transport for London (TfL) have assessed its potential implications for the highway network in the locality and consider it acceptable subject to conditions and financial contributions towards a footbridge over the railway line, improvements to nearby junctions, footway improvements near the site, bus stop improvements, traffic calming measures, review of the existing controlled parking zone (CPZ), improvements to cycle infrastructure near the development, and bus capacity improvements.

The report concludes that the scheme will provide a number of planning and regeneration benefits, including a sizeable increase in the housing stock, 35 affordable units, provision of community/commercial space available to the local community, and in the order of £2.2 million in section 106¹ and Community Infrastructure Levy² (CIL) contributions towards infrastructure, community facilities, and open space improvements in the area. These are considered to outweigh the loss of the locally listed banquet hall building. The proposed contributions to be secured through a section 106 agreement are:

The report also lists a number of conditions that would be attached to the planning permission, covering issues such as the materials to be used, landscaping, construction management, cycle parking, and energy efficiency.

Approval of Minutes

The committee will be asked to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2025. According to the minutes, at that meeting the committee considered applications to vary section 106 agreements relating to developments at 42 Hastings Road and 50-54 Drayton Green Road, 13-19 The Green, Southall, and 6 Portal Way, Acton.