Plans to redevelop a popular square near Oxford Street are one step closer to becoming reality after a London council ‘appropriated’ the land for a developer.
Westminster City Council said in order for the construction to start on Cavendish Square Gardens, it must redesignate the land and allow time for public objections, according to a council report. The council’s Cabinet is set to approve the measure during a meeting on Thursday, October 16, which will then see the appropriation advertised in a local newspaper for two weeks from the end of the month.
Cabinet will meet again in December to discuss the feedback and approve an agreement with the developer, Reed Group, which has promised to plough £3m into revitalising the garden.
Their proposal includes nearly doubling the pedestrian footway, installing a new “moat-like” water feature alongside fresh planting and building new entrances to the park along the south west. There are plans for a new major pedestrian crossing linking the square to Holles Street and Oxford Street and a two-metre-high railing to be installed around the gardens as well as 50 additional cycle parking spaces.
Reed also wants to convert an underground car park into a healthcare facility which may include a hospital, a report before Westminster City Council shows. The scheme was approved in 2022 but was only implemented in May this year.
Q Park, which runs the underground space, backs the plan and says it will surrender its lease, which runs until 2036.
The company has experienced a drop-off in visit numbers and struggled to fill all 432 car park spaces. Westminster City said there are 103 annual or monthly permits held for the car park and they will be offered a space at other local public car parks within 1km of the site.
The council is currently the freeholder for a majority of the site and has proposed selling the underground space to Reed while retaining the garden. This is expected to bring £42m into council coffers, the same report shows. As the landowner, the council has a legal requirement to advertise notice of any plans to appropriate or dispose of land which forms part of an open space. In this instance, the council wants to appropriate the land “for planning purposes”.
The council is being urged to accept the surrender of the lease for the underground car park by Q Park and hand the space over to Reed. It’s also being told by officers to grant Reed a short occupational lease of no more than seven years to carry out the improvement works.
These measures will discussed at a later date.
Adrian Zorzut is a Senior Local Democracy Reporter covering Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and the City of London. A contributor to Harrow Online, his reporting focuses on local government, housing, planning, transport and public policy, helping residents understand the decisions and issues affecting their communities.
