Brent’s Local Plan designates Staples Corner for industrial and housing growth, with the ambition to transform the area into a new mixed-use community, providing a range of new business premises fit for modern day occupiers, as well as at least 2,200 new homes with an improved environment and supporting infrastructure.
To achieve this ambition, the Council is developing a Masterplan that will provide the detailed vision and planning policy framework for regeneration and growth in Staples Corner for the next twenty years. The masterplan will be strategic in nature and we are therefore seeking to produce an innovative design code. It will effectively define and deliver consistent design quality through the different phases of the masterplan over the long term.
The Staples Corner Masterplan
A Masterplan is a plan of action for the area. It will set out where employment spaces, infrastructure, and community facilities should be built or improved and where new homes could be delivered.
The plan will also recommend where new businesses are likely to grow and expand. It will identify opportunities for environmental and infrastructure improvements which could benefit the growth and development of both existing and new businesses, residents and communities.
We are now starting to engage the businesses, residents and other key stakeholders in the design and development of the Masterplan. This engagement will help shape the vision for the area and ensure it reflects the needs of local people. It is anticipated that this will lead to the publication of a formal draft Masterplan for statutory consultation in early 2024.
Following consultation, the Masterplan will be finalised and adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). It will then be used to guide development and investment within the Staples Corner Growth Area boundary.
Through this Masterplan, we are aiming to:
- Support comprehensive and coherent regeneration of the area
- Maximise opportunity for local and new businesses
- Boost employment opportunities
- Deliver at least 2,200 new homes
- Increase connectivity to the wider area, including to the new Brent Cross West Station
- Enhance the Welsh Harp Reservoir to the north
- Ensure infrastructure and community facilities are secured to support development
- Improve walking and cycling routes
- Attract investment in the area.
The Staples Corner Design Code
Alongside the Masterplan, the Council is developing a Design Code. A Design Code is a set of simple, concise, illustrated design requirements for new developments coming forward in an area. They are important because they can provide greater certainty for communities about the design of the development and bring conversations about design to the start of the planning process rather than the end.
They can also give developers, occupants, and adjacent communities greater certainty about what may be acceptable when seeking planning permission. Brent will work with local communities and stakeholders to ensure the Design Code for Staples Corner reflects local aspirations.
It is envisaged that the following groups will primarily use the Design Code:
- landowners
- developers
- design teams
- council officers.
Over the coming months, we will be undertaking engagement workshops with a group of community representatives to develop the brief for the Design Code. The group includes residents, workers, businesses, and other key stakeholders based in and around the area. It is anticipated that this will lead to the publication of a draft Design Code for statutory consultation in mid to late 2023.
The Staples Corner Growth Area extends to 42.7 hectares and is a designated Strategic Industrial Location, reflecting its importance to London’s economy. Staples Corner is primarily made up of light industrial, storage, manufacturing and wholesale, business administration, and associated activities. It has a range of industrial and employment spaces of different sizes, as well as a number of trade counter type businesses.
The area currently benefits from excellent road transport links, including to the A5 Edgware Road, the M1, and the A406 North Circular Road, which cuts through the northern part of the area. There are residential neighbourhoods to the south and west of the Staples Corner Growth Area in Dollis Hill, as well as the new Brent Cross Town development in Barnet to the east.