Introduction to the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation

Old Oak and Park Royal is the only place where HS2 meets Crossrail. It’s our task to use this opportunity to create a thriving new area in the city; somewhere people will aspire to live, work and play, and a destination people will return to visit time and time again.

With High Speed 2 and the Elizabeth Line due to arrive by the end of this decade, our aim is to ensure that the rich history and lively culture of our area are at the centre of these changes, while also capturing the benefit of the capital’s largest housing and economic development opportunity for all Londoners.

It’s our mission to secure the maximum benefits for London and residents/businesses in the area, by achieving the following:

• transforming the area into a well-connected, world-class transport interchange
• providing new housing and commercial development, surrounded by sustainable and thriving neighbourhoods and valued amenity space
• protecting and improving Wormwood Scrubs and the Park Royal industrial estate.

The 2011 Localism Act provided the Mayor with powers to set up Mayoral Development Corporations; we are the second of its kind in London. It was established by a statutory instrument, an order passed by parliament in January 2015, and was granted planning powers through a further statutory instrument in March 2015. We also take some powers from the 2016 Housing and Planning Act.

The corporation is also a local planning authority, and as such we’re responsible for preparing and maintaining a Local Plan or Development Plan. The policies in the Local Plan are the basis for making decisions on planning applications in the area. Other documents and plans at a local level, such as Supplementary Planning Documents, are also important documents which can be relevant in decision making.

We are also responsible for giving guidance to developers, setting the Community Infrastructure Levy and neighbourhood planning.