Hitch holds up King's Cross revamp

DELAYS in getting planning approval are threatening to put central London's largest redevelopment project behind schedule.

Revised plans for the £2bn-£2.5bn regeneration of 67 acres of railway land behind King's Cross and St Pancras stations were expected to go before Camden Council's planning committee in March. However, serious criticisms raised during the consultation period have forced developer Argent to amend the application.

Argent had hoped to submit revised plans last month but now says they will not be ready until later this month.

That means no planning decision can be made until September or October, and the project - 7m square feet of offices, rising to 19 storeys, and about 2000 new homes - could yet face a public inquiry. The scheme has already spent six years in the preplanning stage.

Argent, owned by BT pension fund Hermes, bought out its project partner Berkeley Homes in December for an undisclosed sum. The site is owned by Eurostar holding company London & Continental Railways and logistics group Exel.

Main objections to the original plans concerned the scale of the proposals. Objectors said they exceeded council guidelines and would have an adverse impact on transport and other facilities in the area. Transport for London and Network Rail warned the plans were unacceptable as they could lead to 'transport overload'.

But broker Merrill Lynch last week gave the project a commercial thumbsup because of the 'very good transport links' and 'the ability to provide Grade A offices at a 15%-20% discount to comparable central London office locations'.

Merrill says that, assuming planning permission is forthcoming this year, work could start on the £400m first phase of the scheme in early 2007 following completion of the new Channel Tunnel-Rail Terminal at St Pancras.

However, Merrill says that if the plans are subject to a public inquiry, the development could be delayed by up to two years. Hopes of a speedy resolution to the problem receded last week when Brian Woodrow, chair of Camden Council's planning committee, survived an attempt to topple him.

He is said to be less enthusiastic about the Argent proposals than Camden's planning director Peter Bishop and council leader Jane Roberts. Woodrow cannot now be challenged again until September.

He has been accused of having 'pre-determined views' against the application, which he denies. He told the Evening Standard: 'It is not possible for me to have pre-determined views on any King's Cross application as we have yet to see the amended versions.'