Campaigners against the demolition of Earls Court exhibition halls have made a last throw of the dice in attempting to stop redevelopment of the 75 year-old venue.
They have appealed to Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, to ‘Call in’ the £8m masterplan to redevelop the West London site.
Eight thousand new homes are expected to be created in a series of ‘villages’ designed by Sir Terry Farrell and 12,000 new jobs created under the plans, due to come before Hammersmith & Fulham Council on 12 September, according to a report in the London Evening Standard newspaper (13 August). The Planning Committee is expected to give the plans the final green light.
Earls Court owner Capco claims the venue now operates at only 30-35 per cent capacity, according to the Evening Standard, and is no longer economically viable.
The owners recently valued their 77 acres of land at £731.5m in their interim report for the half year ended 30 June 2012. Capco said the land is now worth £9.5m per acre, up from £8.6m per acre in December 2011.
The Seagrave Road site was granted formal planning consent in February.
Jonathan Rosenberg, community organiser of the campaign against Capco’s plans, has described replacing the venue with property speculation as “disgraceful”.
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