Government could face court over White City project

The European Commission (EC) has announced that it is pursuing legal action against the UK for failing to carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the £1bn White City urban development project in London.

The EC threatened legal action in September and has now decided to pursue it. The UK government is to be referred to the Court of Justice as a result of its failure to carry out the assessment on the west London project, sited between Shepherd's Bush and White City, that Multiplex is building.

With a construction value of £520m, the project involves the construction of a 60,000m2 shopping and leisure centre with 16ha set aside for 4,500 car parking spaces, making it one of the largest in London.

It appears that guidance documentation issued at national level for this class of project guides local authorities away from proposing an EIA for urban projects on previously developed land.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council approved the project in March 2002, but this move contradicted legislation stating that large-scale private and public projects must submit an adequate assessment before approval from a planning authority.

However, a spokesman from the council said that initial approval was given "before the legislation was introduced in 1998" and that it had not been made aware of the warnings.