Lady Margaret ward councillor and Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Ealing Southall, Cllr Gurcharan Singh, this week wrote to the Mayor of London urging him not to approve the controversial Southall Gasworks plans. National Grid’s plans to build 3,750 homes on the site were rejected by Ealing Council’s Planning Committee last November, but as the development has London-wide significance, Mayor Boris Johnson has the power to over-ride the Council’s decision. Cllr Singh said:

Follow up:

“These plans are unacceptable to the people of Southall. Ealing Council has taken firm stand in saying no and I am appealing to the Mayor to respect the Council’s decision. The plans put far too much pressure on local transport and other infrastructure, access to the site has not been thought out, and there are still real concerns about the contamination of the land.”

Leader of the Council, Cllr Jason Stacey, reiterated that decisions on Southall gasworks should be made locally. He said:

“The reasons for refusal of the application remain as valid now as when the Planning Committee took the decision. Any attempt to ignore this and impose development on Southall without addressing theses issues would be wrong and fly in the face of the principle of the Borough being best placed to make decisions on behalf of its local community.”

To read the full letter sent by Gurcharan to Boris, click here.