Also known as Sainsbury’s site Development
The former gasworks site south of Kensal Green Cemetery is the last major development site in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), and the borough is keen to see it redeveloped to provide more housing.
(Note: The Earl’s Court site is partly in RBKC. They anticipate their initial planning application to be made in 2024).
Note: QPARA provides links to external material for information. Presence of a link does not mean we have checked it for accuracy or support the views shown there.
The QPARA response can be seen at Kensal Canalside – The RBKC Planning Process
The area shown with a red outline is divided into two development sites. In addition, the area at the eastern end occupied by Canalside House and the Water Sports Centre, is owned by RBKC, and they have invited Ballymore to make proposals to develop that area.
This plan, taken from the St William website, shows the ownership of the land north of the railway.
The small portion at the western end, (far end in photo), that was occupied by the two gasometers, is being developed by Berkeley St William. They refer to it as Kensal Gasworks. There is a website at: https://kensalgasworks.com/
Note: as at 12/01/24, this website has not been updated for a couple of years. It appears that Berkeley Homes has suspended investment in new development for the foreseeable future. See this article in Building Magazine.
The majority of the area is being developed by a partnership of Ballymore and Sainsbury’s. It is known as Project Flourish. There is a website at: https://www.projectflourish.co.uk/
Note: they have a number of download links for more information at the bottom of their “Consultation and Feedback” page, including most of the slides from the Development Forum presentation on 10th July.
The strip of land the other side of the railway, south of the main site, belongs to Network Rail. It was used as the main Eurostar Depot, and is now being used by the HS2 project and is not anticipated to be free for a decade or so. Development of this area is also proposed. A bridge (pedestrian and cycle) across the railway is proposed to link the two areas and the Ballymore project make provision for this.
The site is within the Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area identified by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Their website about it is at: https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-policy/kensal-canalside-opportunity-area-spd
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea are the planning authority and will gain all the money from the developers for local improvements (Section 106). The closely bordering boroughs of Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster have no formal say and will not benefit.
It is said that RBKC will earmark some of the Section 106 money for schools and medical facilities affected by the development.
There is a petition on Change.org about this development: https://www.change.org/p/keep-kensal-green-keepkensalgreen
For information about the Planning Application see Planning page
The current timeline.
Kensal Triangle Residents’ Association (KTRA) have set up a “Keep Kensal Green” campaign has produced some videos about the development and issues arising from the previous use of the site.
If you are interested in being added to their mailing list or offering help, email them at: Kensal Triangle Residents Association info@ktra.co.uk
They also have a YouTube channel.
This includes a short film about the development, where they consider it departs from local and national standards, and an indication of an alternative.
There is also, a short film showing maps of the area and a longer one about pollution issues.
KTRA have added another video about the dangers of the types of contamination on a gasworks site.
Ballymore have responded to this by adding a Newsletter item, dated Oct 12, which covers remediation. There is a downloadable report by Card Geotechnics Limited linked to this, with much more information.
The report shows that quite a lot is known about the western end, and there was remediation there in 2002. However, access is limited at the eastern end because of the existing Sainsbury’s site, and that is where a lot of the most polluting processes were undertaken.
Report of a briefing from Ballymore on Project Flourish on 9th March 2023
Report of a visit to Ballymore’s London City Island on 31st March 2023
A couple of linked 360 degree views of Ballymore’s London City Island, which they say is a similar density to that proposed for Project Flourish. (31/03/23)
- Click on the arrow to move between the two views.
- Drag the pointer across the image to look around.
- Click on the + and – icons or use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out.
- Click on the “frame” icon to make it full screen.
- Click on the “frame” icon with a square to exit full screen.
London City Island from the north (behind Canning Town Station).
These towers are a couple of stories shorter than the tallest proposed at Kensal Canalside.
This is a pdf file with some of the images shown at the QPARA meeting on 14th September 2023.