Read a summary of the LDF
Planning for your Borough of Opportunity
The council, through its Local Development Framework Core Strategy Options paper, is focused on:
Improving the quality of life of H&F residents »
Meeting housing needs and aspirations »
Improving housing estates »
Stengthening town centres »
Urban design & conservation »
Tackling and adapting to climate change »
Safeguarding against flooding »
Improving transport »
Take part in the LDF online consultation »
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Improving the quality of life of H&F residents
A key objective of the council is to improve the quality of life for our residents by protecting and improving open spaces and ensuring there is a good range of community facilities including leisure, sport, improved school provision and health clinics. Where we can the council wants to create community hubs where a variety of services can be provided. The council’s preferred way forward is to:
Protect and improve the quality of existing parks and open spaces
Ensure major developments provide new green areas
Protect and enhance biodiversity in parks and other open spaces.
The River Thames and the Grand Union Canal are important features of the borough. Our preferred way forward includes:
Encouraging development of vacant and underused land along the waterways
Ensuring new development provides opportunities for water-based activities where possible
Encouraging public access and extending and enhancing the riverside walk.
Meeting housing needs and aspirations
With the fourth highest property prices in the UK, owning your own home in H&F is out of reach for the majority of people. Only 44% of people in the borough are homeowners, compared to 68.7% nationally. The council wants to increase that figure to 50% by 2014 and to exceed housing building targets laid down in the London Plan. Our preferred way forward is to:
Build at least 6,500 new homes by 2021
Aim for 50% of new homes to be affordable
Promote a mix of affordable homes including both low cost home ownership and rented housing as well as market housing
Provide a mix of housing types and sizes, all designed to “lifetime home standards” with 10% wheelchair accessible.
A major component in delivering Decent Neighbourhoods is improving council housing estates as opportunities to do so emerge.
In the 21st Century people have the right to expect decent, high quality and energy efficient homes. Despite short term investment in recent years through the Decent Homes programme, the structure and layout of many estates is poor. Overcrowding is a big problem due to the lack of family-sized accommodation. Open spaces and communal areas are sometimes underused while accessibility is a big problem for many people due to the lack of lifts.
We want to break down the barriers that can lead to unemployment, poverty and poor health by creating mixed communities where everyone has a chance to move up in life.
The council needs to start planning for what our estates should look like in 2025 and beyond. Our aim is to work with tenants and leaseholders on a longer term plan to ensure that estates are safe, attractive places to live with energy efficient homes that are of the highest possible standard.
We want to ensure that residents and their children have access to a greater range of low cost housing with the ability to step onto the property ladder.
Overall, the council and HF Homes want tenants and leaseholders to benefit from the investment that could follow from nearby development opportunities. This may, in time, involve replacing existing housing on estates in White City, West Kensington/Gibbs Green, Clem Attlee, Ashcroft Square and Queen Caroline as part of any redevelopment schemes around the estates. If this happens, the council and H&F Homes will work with local residents to bring about improvements with the minimum of disruption, while everybody living on the estates will be offered a home that suits their needs in the same area. Leaseholder and freeholder investments will be protected, while there will be no reduction in council rented housing.
The council and H&F Homes have already been talking to residents on these estates and their ongoing involvement is crucial in developing and shaping ideas on long-term improvements.
We want to ensure our town centres are economically strong areas with a good mix of shops which offer both services and employment to local people. Our preferred way forward includes:
Actively promoting office and leisure space in Hammersmith town centre, the regeneration of the market in Shepherds Bush and local services and shopping in Fulham
Improving the local environment in each town centre
Providing a variety of shops and services close to where people live.
The borough’s local environment and public spaces are of huge importance to the quality of our life. The council wants to:
Protect the quality and character of the borough’s conservation areas and its historic environment
Promote a high quality, safe, accessible and inclusive environment
Introduce more trees and planting and encourage the enhancement of front gardens
Ensure that new development is of the highest standard of design
Limit tall buildings to parts of regeneration areas.
Tackling and adapting to climate change
Future development must minimise energy use. Our preferred way forward includes:
Reducing carbon emissions from new development and through reuse of buildings
Increasing the use of renewable energy in new developments and encouraging the use of combined heat and power schemes in larger developments
Setting targets on environmental performance for new buildings
Encouraging sustainable waste practices
Promoting the efficient use of land, buildings and roads, reducing the need to travel by car.
Flood risk is an issue in many parts of the borough and it is important that future development minimises the effects of flooding both on people and property. Our preferred way forward includes:
Making sure that development plans take account of flood risk by having all relevant assessments carried out
Lessening the risk of flooding from both surface and foul water by reducing rain water run-off when rebuilding.
Although we have seen improvements in public transport with new rail and tube stations in Shepherds Bush and a new rail station due to open soon at Imperial Wharf, H&F still has the most congested roads in London. Our preferred way forward includes:
Promoting the idea of a Crossrail station at Old Oak, as well as a High Speed Rail Hub linking west London with Heathrow and the rest of the country
Promoting a new station on the Central Line at Du Cane Road
Improving north-south road travel in the borough
Increasing opportunities for walking and cycling
Making sure public transport is able to cater for new development.
» Download the full LDF Options Core Strategy paper as a pdf » (very large 7mb file)
