The ambitious vision was revealed by Cargiant, which occupies a 46-acre site between the Grand Union Canal and Willesden Junction station.
New town: Cargiant has plans for 9,000 homes at its 46-acre site between the Grand Union Canal and Willesden Junction
It is by far the biggest stretch of land in the hands of a single private owner in Britain’s largest regeneration zone.
The scruffy windswept site would be renamed Old Oak Park and turned into a new town with 9,000 homes, a high street, public squares, schools, health centres, offices and a new Overground station called Hythe Road, as well as the canal frontage.
Tony Mendes, managing director of the used-car supermarket, said: “Cargiant has been based at the heart of Old Oak Common since 1985, employing over 700 people and indirectly supporting a further 2,000 local jobs, we are an important piece of the west London community. While we are something of accidental developers, we feel a real sense of responsibility to deliver the homes and jobs that London needs.
Potential: plans of how the new development could look
“At Old Oak Park we have a fantastic site with over a kilometre of canal, what will be the best transport connections in London and the best fibre optic network in the UK.”
A new viaduct will carry the railway line that splits the site over Old Oak Park, which will be served by the planned Old Oak Common railway “superhub” connecting HS2, Crossrail and the Great Western mainline.
Key location: the new high street would have good transport linksOld Oak Park, part of Mayor Boris Johnson’s Old Oak Common and Park Royal Opportunity Area, would support about 8,000 new jobs and will require as much as £5 billion of investment, including infrastucture and utilities.
Cargiant decided to develop the site because it has run out of space and is looking for a new location. QPR had hoped a new 40,000-stadium could be part of the redevelopment but Cargiant — a former sponsor of the team — has ruled this out.
Waterside: plans by the Grand Union CanalCargiant hopes to submit a planning application by the end of the year and move to its new location by 2021. They are the first detailed plans for the development of Old Oak Common.
A public consultation on the plans — drawn up with developers London & Regional Properties and designers PLP/Architecture and Arup — opens on Thursday and will last until July 4.
