Met Police asks for £300k in s106 contributions to mitigate policing impact of 1,600-home development

The Metropolitan Police has called on a developer to agree to more than £300,000 in section 106 contributions in order to handle the increased policing needed for a proposed 1,600-home development in West London.

In a letter to the planning authority, Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, Jonathan Boulton of the Metropolitan Police said the police force did not have the funding to meet the increased policing demands that would result from the scheme.

Supermarket giant Asda, which is behind the development, aims to build five new blocks with a maximum height of up to 150m on the site in Park Royal.

In his letter, Boulton said the police force had calculated that 4,000 additional residents would be accommodated by the development.

"I do not doubt that there will be a corresponding increase in demand from new residents for Policing services across a wide spectrum of support and intervention, as they go about their daily lives at the site, in the locality, and across the Policing sub region," he said.

He requested a contribution of £309,000 to mitigate the impacts of the development on wider police infrastructure, a 150 sqm facility at a peppercorn rent for use as police accommodation, the costs to fit out the facility, and up to four parking spaces.

"These are sought as our existing infrastructure does not have the capacity to meet these and because, like some other services, we do not have the funding ability to respond to growth whenever and wherever proposed," he said.

He said that the National Planning Policy Framework supports the request "as securing sufficient facilities and services to meet local needs is a Core Planning Principle [p9 Section 3, paragraph 20]".

The letter added: "In addition the NPPF specifically seeks environments where crime and disorder and the fear of crime do not undermine the quality of life and community cohesion [p27 Section 8, paragraph 92b] and sets out that Planning Policies and decisions should deliver this [p38, Section 8, paragraph 92b]."

Boulton also noted that police nationally encourage seeking developer contributions to ensure existing levels of service can be maintained, adding that the Metropolitan Police are pursuing a strategy of calling for developer contributions in the face of "unprecedented levels of growth being proposed across London".

Adam Carey