9 April 2024 | City Plan Partial Review: Grosvenor Sidings

Grosvenor Sidings boundary

Click to enlarge Image from the City Plan Partial Review (Consultation)

Westminster City Council is undertaking a partial review of the City Plan and this has reached the consultation stage

The review is looking at 3 specific topics: Affordable Housing, Retrofit First and “Site Allocations” which has policies for sites proposed for future development which have been suggested by the relevant land owners.

Crucially for Pimlico (and Churchill Gardens) there is a proposed site allocation for “Grosvenor Sidings”: two plots of railway land between Ebury Bridge and the Thames on either side of the tracks which run over the river. The two plots lie entirely in the Pimlico Neighbourhood Area.

The Council’s consultation is here: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/planning-building-control-and-environmental-regulations/planning-policy/city-plan-partial-review. Warning: there are many very large documents. The most relevant documents for Grosvenor Sidings are:

  • Regulation 19 City Plan (Chapter 11, page 71-76);  
  • Grosvenor Sidings Design Review Panel Report;
  • Site Allocations Heritage Impacts Assessments report and
  • Integrated Impacts Assessment document (including Appendix VIII and Appendix IX)

The consultation period concludes on 25 April 2024 and the Council’s “Regulation 19 consultation portal“ can be accessed on: https://cityplanpartialreview.commonplace.is/

The Steering Group is working on a consultation response from Pimlico Neighbourhood Forum to ensure that if a development proposal comes forward, it should respect policies in the Pimlico Neighbourhood Plan — especially those policies regarding height of new buildings, and the effect on the protected views out of Pimlico and Peabody Avenue Conservation Areas. Development also needs to integrate well with existing adjacent uses in Pimlico and to provide public realm, as the Plan specifies for major developments.