Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corporation are in pre-application discussions for schemes totalling over 12,000 homes.

Mick Mulhearn, director of planning at OPDC said that sites providing more than 12,000 homes had come forward to the pre-app stage while speaking at MIPIM UK. Around half of these are on the Cargiant site, but the remainder represents significant progress towards the 25000 home target. He said that, around the new HS2/Crossrail interchange station at least, they would be looking for Hyperdensity – 350-400 dwellings per hectare, similar to Nine Elms, Greenwich Peninsula, and Millharbour, rathe than the 250-300 dph thought of as ‘superdensity’.

This presents some challenges of course. Amenity provision will be critical to making such a community work, as well as the connections not just on HS2 or Crossrail, but more locally to White City, WIllesden Junction, and so on.

Mr Mulhearn also said that OPDC was preparing the utilities delivery strategy, encompassing water, electricity, decentralised energy and more. This wil be good news for Park Royal businesses, who are hoping that OPDC will improve utlities provision to the entire estate. Water and energy are critical issues for many of the businesses on the estate, and some extra capacity in both networks would be welcome.

Place West London is holding an event focussed on the future of Old Oak and Park Royal on November 1. See full details.