Chelsea and Fulham MP tries to block construction of “too tall and too bulky” 20 storey tower block

Fulham MP Greg Hands has sought to prevent a 20-storey tower block from being built by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, arguing it is too big.

Mr Hands, a Conservative, asked the Government to “call-in” the decision to give planning permission for the new block in October 2020.

The application was submitted by a joint venture between the council and developer Stanhope.

It includes 133 flats being built on the Clement Attlee Estate. Of these, 105 would be for “social rent” homes and 28 would be let at “intermediate rents”.

It would be named Edith Summerskill House after a previous block of flats that was demolished in 2017, having stood empty since 2011.

On June 10, Mr Hands, who is also a trade minister, received confirmation that his appeal had been accepted. This means the planning permission will now be reviewed by a state planning inspector, and could be blocked.

The MP for Chelsea and Fulham tweeted: “We need more homes – but not more tower blocks – in Fulham.”

Councillor Andrew Jones, the Labour council’s cabinet member for the economy, hit back by saying: “The Government should withdraw this objection immediately.

“After a decade of austerity and a drastic shortage of affordable housing, it’s breathtaking that they should now decide to stop the re-development of the former Edith Summerskill House. We’re simply seeking to provide new, genuinely affordable homes for local people.”

This is also the second time the council has tried to secure planning permission for new flats on the site, only to have it called-in by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government.

It is understood that a planning barrister, Richard Turney, who lives nearby, also made a separate request for the Government to call-in the planning application.

Mr Turney was the man behind the first challenge, where he beat the council’s officers by convincing a planning inspector to send the scheme back to the drawing board.

Despite the huge row, the scheme did not prove particularly controversial among residents on the Clem Attlee estate, where there is already a 17-storey tower block.

Before the scheme was decided on by the council’s planning committee in October last year, 34 residents had submitted objections. Other controversial developments in West London have received hundreds of objections before being rejected.

Mr Turney told councillors on the committee that they should reject it, as it was “too tall and too bulky”, and because the council’s Local Plan did not designate the area as being suitable for a tall building.

The committee was also told by council planning officer Peter Wilson that a future appeal against the council would fail, because the new scheme is a significant improvement on the site being vacant.

The new tower would be 20 metres taller than its predecessor, and features distinctive arched windows and a ground floor “arcade”.

The scheme will be determined at a public inquiry, which will likely be held later this year and presided over by a government planning inspector.

Pictured top: An artists impression of the proposed block