On Tuesday December 12th, we heard the very disappointing news that the TfL/Native land appeal to build on and around South Kensington station has been mostly won by the developer (i.e. the development can largely proceed).
While we need more housing in Kensington, the plans to develop South Kensington station are not appropriate.
Alongside the 2000+ of you who objected and local residents’ associations, I and all of our elected Conservative representatives – including Tony Devenish AM and our BHT and Courtfield ward councillors – fought this inappropriate development for our conservation area to the very end. We managed to win the argument at the Council’s planning committee in 2021 when planning permission was refused. Unfortunately, the developers appealed and a public inquiry was heard earlier this year. The Council employed a top KC to defend the planning committee’s decision and were supported by local residents’ associations as Rule 6 parties.
Unfortunately the arguments for the developer mostly prevailed with the planning inspector. Although the proposal to damage the listed museum tunnel with retail facilities has been refused, this is a small win in the overall context. We are deeply disappointed that the inspector has overridden the clear views of local residents and is allowing this harm to be inflicted on our conservation area.
Whilst the development, if completed, will bring the benefits of a small amount of extra housing and partial step-free access to the station, we still believe the design and massing of this mainly office development is totally inappropriate. We believe that TfL should provide step-free access at South Kensington Tube Station independent of this development.
Before the development reached the Planning Inspectorate, I asked the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) to recover the development for a ministerial decision but unfortunately officials decided that the Planning Inspectorate's decision is final.
Recently, I wrote to South Kensington residents ahead of the appeal decision to outline the reasons why I've opposed this development and the actions I've taken to date to stop this development going ahead. You can read my full letter which I posted on Facebook and shared in my previous newsletter HERE.
We believe the only avenue to reverse this decision would effectively be by Judicial Review (JR) to the High Court (technically a Section 288 challenge). Such a challenge can only be heard if we can prove that the Inspectorate did not follow due process. We need to assess whether there are any grounds for such a challenge. The deadline to apply for a JR is January 23rd, six weeks after the decision was made.
I will continue to stand up for residents’ interests and will inform you of any developments on this matter.
Overall, this is a very disappointing result for South Kensington.
