EALING Council bosses' ambition to redevelop Gurnell Leisure Centre has been dealt a blow after the plans were refused permission.

Ten councillors on the local authority's planning committee voted against the 'monstrosity' development, while two members abstained, and one voted in favour.

They decided that the controversial plan did not meet the 'very special circumstances' requirement to build on the site, which is on Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) and that the buildings, including tower blocks up to 17 storeys for housing, was overdevelopment.

Committee members were also told the existing leisure centre and car park were already inappropriate development for the land and that it was for them to decide whether the new development's benefits would outweigh the harms.

Steps to redevelop the leisure centre and create a 'flagship' facility in Greenford have been taken since 2015, with plans for residential development to be included to fund the scheme.

The plans submitted by Be Here Ealing, was a joint venture between Ealing Council, its housing company Broadway Living and developer Eco World.

Among the plans it sought permission to demolish Gurnell Leisure Centre and rebuild it with a larger gym, wider pool and other facilities, and to build 599 homes in six blocks ranging from six to 17 storeys high.

This included 196 affordable flats, making up 34% of the development.

The application had received around 1,700 objections, including from Ealing North MP, James Murray.

In a video from the campaign group, Save Gurnell, objecting to the development, it said: "The Gurnell site is designated Metropolitan Open Land and forms part of the Brent River Park, an open green space now more important than ever due to the COVID pandemic.

"The main value of MOL is its openness and planning policy explicitly states it should not be built on."

It added: "The benefits stated in the application are exaggerated and inaccurate, and the harms have been subjectively diminished.

"No justifiable argument that special circumstances exist here to allow it to proceed.

"The housing mix and tenure do not meet Ealing's needs, not enough family units, affordable housing units fall short and 35% given the requirement is 50% on public land and there is no social rent."

The group also raised concerns of the cost of the development 'rocketing' to £55 million, while Sports England said in comparable developments it suggests £18m to £25m to be a more appropriate amount.

Addressing a key concern of the development encroaching on the park, Gregor Mitchell speaking on behalf of developer EcoWorld said this had been limited to an 0.5% increase on the land, 'which is less than a third of the size of the tennis court'.

But a number of councillors flagged concerns on this, with cllr Josh Blacker calling it 'disingenuous', adding: "We're not replacing a car park with a car park, we're replacing a car park with up to 15 stroreys, the volume here is what's important and I just don't think we meet that special circumstance case."

Cllr Ray Wall, who also voted against the plan, said: "It shouldn't have even got this far, the finances don't stack up for me but that's not the reason I'll be voting against it.

"We are building on MOL a swathe of housing.

"It's our land and we are not giving enough social housing on it, far from it, it's on a flood plain, there's no mix of the tenure, it's now with the development itself would be a kind of barrier to the park from Ruislip road from my view.

"Finally, the leisure centre looks like a warehouse with two chimneys plumped on top of it."

On the committee, Chris Summers was the only councillor who decided to vote in favour of the plan 'on the balance' of issues, citing the need for a new leisure centre.

"The footprint of this new building is virtually the same as the existing building, and the car park we're not building on virgin countryside MOL.

"On balance it is getting a brand new state-of-the-art leisure centre, much improved, a wider pool, bigger gym.

"The leisure centre does need to be rebuilt," he said.

An Ealing Council spokesperson told Nub News: "Although we're disappointed with the planning committee's decision to reject the plans to redevelop Gurnell Leisure Centre, this outcome demonstrates that our planning process is robust, with council submissions treated like those from any other applicant.

"Over the coming period we will take stock, look into the specific reasons for refusal and consider the best options in response to the decision."