FAQs: about us

The Mayor of London established Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) on 1 April 2015. We are the Mayor’s second Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) and the fifth functional body.

Our Vision: To create and deliver London homes and jobs to facilitate London’s growth and enhance London’s competitive position in the global economy. Our vision is that Old Oak and Park Royal will become a renewed urban community, where a thriving local economy supports a great place to work, visit and live. It will be an inclusive, accessible, and diverse district, displaying the best practice in social and environmental design, and making a major contribution to London’s success as a global city.

Our Mission: To capitalise on the significant HS2 and Crossrail investment at Old Oak Common to drive forward the delivery of high quality homes and jobs to facilitate London and UK growth and global competitiveness. To realise the Mayor’s vision and priorities for London and Londoners.

We have various statutory powers relating to infrastructure, regeneration, land acquisitions (including Compulsory Purchase Orders), streets, business, transport and public realm improvements. We are also the planning authority and lead on preparing the local plans, CIL and determining planning applications in this area.

The London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing or Hammersmith & Fulham would still carry out the following:

• environmental services including collecting bins
• health and social care services and career support
• housing services, including housing benefits
• leisure and culture services
• community and childcare services
• crime prevention and safety
• education services
• the role of the local highway authority, including street care, parking and road safety
• environmental management
• business and job support, business rates
• health and safety, licenses, town centre management, trading standards
• management of Council Tax, student benefits and grants.

We have a Board that governs its operation and decision making. The Chair of the Board, Liz Peace CBE, was appointed by the Mayor of London. The Mayor oversees the appointment of all other board members, which at a minimum includes an elected representative from the three local Councils of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham, and anyone else the Mayor deems necessary to appoint.

The set up and operation of the MDC is funded by the Greater London Authority.

The boundary covers an area of 650 hectares (ha). The boundary for the MDC will be split into three areas:

• the core development area where up to 24,000 new homes and 55,000 jobs will be created, will include Old Oak in Hammersmith & Fulham, North Acton in Ealing and Willesden Junction in Brent
• the Park Royal industrial area would include the industrial land in Ealing and Brent where there is an opportunity to support the regeneration of the area and to intensify to provide an additional 10,000 new jobs and 1500 homes
• Wormwood Scrubs where some sensitive enhancements could be delivered in agreement with the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust and the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.

It would operate for as long as is necessary to achieve its objectives. No end date is proposed, but the Corporation would review its purpose and operation every few years during its lifetime. Given the scale of the regeneration opportunity, it is clear that it will be a long term project of around 30 years.

OPDC will continue to operate as usual in the case of a change of Mayor. A new Mayor would Chair the Board and identify priorities accordingly.

Yes, the London Legacy Development Corporation, which continues to lead the post-Olympic regeneration of Stratford and East London. At the time of posting there are currently no plans for other MDCs.

The Mayor of London wants to transform this underused part of London into a thriving new district with up to 24,000 new homes and 55,000 jobs at Old Oak, linked to plans to build a ‘super hub’ HS2 and Crossrail station by 2026 and to further intensify Park Royal with an additional 10,000 jobs and 1,500 homes.

OPDC has taken on planning powers across the Old Oak and Park Royal area, including determination of planning applications. However, the Corporation’s planning committee has agreed to delegate certain planning applications back to the local Councils for determination and the local Councils will have representation in the decision making process.

In summary:

• Old Oak – the Corporation would determine planning applications for major development in Old Oak, with the local Council determining smaller scale applications related to: existing dwellings; existing or new small businesses, shops, and industrial units below 1,000sq.m.; less than 10 new residential units; and small scale transport applications, including cross-overs
• Park Royal – the Corporation would determine: large planning applications of 50 or more residential units; large commercial buildings of over 10,000 sq.m.; large waste facilities with a waste throughput of over 50,000 tonnes; transport applications for new and altered vehicle, rail, cycle and pedestrian infrastructure; development for a use, other than residential use, that includes provision of 200 or more car parking spaces in connection with that use; and applications to accommodate the relocation of existing uses within the boundary. All other planning applications would be determined by the local planning authority
• North Acton – The Corporation would only determine transport applications for new and altered vehicle, rail, cycle and pedestrian infrastructure. The local planning authority would determine all other planning applications in this area.

Read the detailed arrangements for this delegation of planning application

During the public consultation on the designation of OPDC, over 300 comments were received and a number of concerns were raised about the proposed boundary of the MDC and what it would include. These resulted in boundary amendments including the removal of land to the west of the A406 in the London Boroughs of Brent and Ealing, and land to the south of the Wormwood Scrubs in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.

Research from the Mayor’s Office indicates that the regeneration scheme could be worth up to £7 billion for the London economy, with the potential for Old Oak to supply up to 3 per cent of the Greater London housing requirement and almost 14 per cent of Greater London’s employment need up to 2036.

We are the local planning authority for its area. Our consultations will focus on setting the policies on which planning applications, such as those brought forward by local developers, will be determined. You may have seen and taken part in consultations organised by local developers for Old Oak Park and Oaklands, as well as others.

OPDC has support from Government Departments including the Department for Transport (DfT), HM Treasury (HMT) and Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Central Government has played an important role in establishing the MDC and in agreeing to transfer Government owned land to the Development Corporation.