Three 19 storey tower blocks are too high for the current Waitrose location. It shows conflicting advice and lack of joined up thinking for Ealing, by Labour over the last 11 years.

John Lewis Partnership, who own Waitrose, are looking to demolish the existing 17 year old Waitrose supermarket in Alexandria Road, West Ealing and replace it with three tower blocks of up to 19 storeys high. The current store and car park area will be built upon with a new superstore, street-level customer car parking and tower blocks. 

Labour run Ealing council have been in discussion with John Lewis for the past 18 months and appear to be going against their own site-specific guidance for the site which cites 9 to 13 storeys. The draft Local Plan closed for consultation on Wednesday 8 February 2023, with many groups feeling they had not been able to input.  The local opposition was made at a heated Local Plan meeting in Ealing Town Hall a couple of days earlier when many local residents demonstrated their distrust of the Council and its Local Plan.

This shows that given the opportunity, developers are seeking to maximise the number of storeys and building opportunities by increasing storeys and density.  

Liberal Democrats are keen to ensure that people across the borough are actively engaged in responding to the local Development Plan, to conserve green belt and open spaces as well as ensuring that our built environment is appropriate and fit for purpose in the twenty first century.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Jon Ball, Opposition Spokesperson on Planning and Housing

"While we recognise the importance of providing the additional genuinely affordable housing that Borough residents need, unchecked tall buildings harm the character of our Borough and 19 storeys is far too high for that location as admitted by the Labour administration in their own local plan. John Lewis should go back to the drawing board.

And if Ealing's pre-application advice didn't match the draft local plan that shows the continued shocking failure of joined-up thinking by the Labour Council in Ealing. They have been leading Ealing for as long as the Conservatives have been in Downing Street."

Liberal Democrat Councillor Gary Malcolm, Leader of the Opposition, is leading a response to the draft Local Plan and is keen to talk to any groups who have not been engaged in the process.

"Our response is that we believe in the importance of green infrastructure to sustain us over the medium term alongside a framework of buildings for the future and connected communities. We believe that this local plan is damaging to the sustainability of a future Ealing. These aspects are in a delicate balance."