The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has appointed nine leading industry experts to join the Board and Planning Committee that is responsible for governing the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC). The decision was made in response to a recommendation by the Mayor’s office and Liz Peace CBE, Chairman of OPDC, following an open recruitment process.
New members will take a leading role in helping OPDC to deliver tens of thousands of new homes and jobs in West London. The appointments aim to strengthen the expertise the existing Board and Committee provides to the Mayoral Development Corporation as it continues to deliver the UK’s largest regeneration project.
Newly appointed Board members are:
- Natalie Campbell, Director of Insight and Innovation at The Royal Foundation
- Shevaughn Rieck, Partner at Farrells LLP
- Michael Simms, Director of the Acton Community Forum
- Helen Ward, Professor of Public Health at Imperial College London
Newly appointed Planning Committee members are:
- Karen Cooksley, Partner & Head of Planning Development at Winckworth Sherwood
- Sandra Fryer, Director at Sustainable Works Ltd.
Newly reappointed Board members are:
- Rahul Gokhale, Commercial Director at Allpex
- William McKee, CEO at Accessible Retail
Newly reappointed Planning Committee member is:
- Gordon Adams, Head of Planning & Public Affairs at Battersea Power Station Development Company
Old Oak and Park Royal is one of the most important regeneration and development projects in London, with potential for 25,500 new homes and 65,000 new jobs. A High Speed 2 and Elizabeth line (formerly Crossrail) interchange, due to be constructed at Old Oak by 2026, will transform one of the most inaccessible parts of London into a well-connected, world-class transport hub, handling 250,000 passengers a day. OPDC is seeking to maximise the unique opportunity of investment in transport infrastructure to create an exemplar new sustainable neighbourhood. OPDC will lead the delivery of housing and commercial development, creating opportunities for local people while driving innovation and growth in London and the UK.
Established in April 2015 to drive future development plans for the wider area, OPDC has full planning powers within its 650 hectares boundary, including land in the boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Brent.
Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor, Planning, Regeneration and Skills, said: “Old Oak and Park Royal has capacity to deliver tens of thousands of new genuinely affordable homes and jobs – so I am delighted to welcome these new Board and Planning Committee members as we work to create a brand new, vibrant part of the city.”
Liz Peace, Chairman of OPDC, said: “Old Oak and Park Royal is one of the most important regeneration projects in London and is set to be the largest new development in the capital since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. I look forward to working with the new Board members and to leveraging their wealth of experience and expertise to secure the best possible scheme.”
Michael Simms, new Board member, said: “I am very excited by the prospect of being involved in such an ambitious project with such enormous potential for bringing positive improvements to local lives and living as well as the promotion of innovation and increased opportunities within our West London communities and beyond.”
Shevaughn Rieck, new Board member, said: “I am thrilled to have been offered a position as an OPDC board member. This project is one of London’s great regeneration projects, an opportunity to create truly new and unique parts of this wonderful city. The jobs and homes are a given output, its test is in the community created. The excitement for me is in creating an area of London that is timeless, that builds on its history and outlives us. I see this as a great challenge not only professionally but personally, as a local resident of a part of London that my children will call home.”
On 29 October 2017, Deputy Mayor for Housing, James Murray joined Liz Peace at the first ground-breaking on the Genesis and QPR site, Oaklands to kick-start the wider regeneration of Old Oak and Park Royal, the largest Opportunity Area in London.
The OPDC Board sets the strategic direction for the Corporation. It approves the budget and business plan, and other major and strategic issues, such as investment programmes and planning policy. It appoints the members of the Planning Committee and any other committees required.