Ealing Arcadia Centre Development: Rejected

Good news for Ealing: John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has rejected the Arcadia redevelopment proposal for Ealing Broadway, previously rubber stamped by Conservative-run Ealing Council and London Mayor, Boris Johnson.

Denham's decision, which follows last summer's public enquiry, is a victory for common sense and will come as some considerable relief to those of us who live or work nearby. Politicians come and go, and London is littered with evidence of their bad planning decisions. Long after the politicians are gone, it's ordinary folk like you and me who have to live with the awful consequences. This proposal was a monumentally dumb one from the get-go. Ealing Council's unremitting stubbornness over the issue has bordered on the unforgiveable. It's as if they learnt nothing from the previous Labour group's experience who pushed an equally dumb West London tram scheme proposal, running roughshod over the wishes of local people: and were unceremoniously kicked out of power as a direct result. We won't have to wait long to see if a similar fate awaits the Tories.