Hammersmith and Fulham Council claims the scheme would release land for development while improving the quality of the town centre by removing high levels of noise and pollution
Hammersmith and Fulham Council has said it will work with Transport for London (TfL) and “other stakeholders” to demolish a 1960s flyover and replace it with a tunnel.
In its draft Local Plan, which is due to go out for consultation, the council writes that the removal of the Hammersmith Flyover and parts of the A4 would free up land for development and reconnect communities separated by the road.
The flyover, which was opened in 1961, was intended to reduce the levels of traffic in Hammersmith. The draft plan however notes that over time it has “had adverse consequences, cutting off Hammersmith Town Centre from the River Thames, severing the traditional Victorian street pattern and creating large amounts of traffic moving around the Hammersmith Gyratory to get on and off the A4”.
Councils’ Local Plans provide a strategic overview of their priorities for the coming years. Covering topics from infrastructure to housing and transport, they set policies and allocate sites to guide decisions about potential future developments.
The publication of Hammersmith and Fulham’s draft Local Plan comes as it is set to undergo its statutory regulation 18 public consultation, assuming approval by Cabinet next Monday (October 13).
A second consultation is pencilled in for next summer before the draft is submitted to the Secretary of State for examination. It is hoped the plan will be ready for adoption in November 2027, to run for 15 years until 2042.
The current draft, uploaded online ahead of next week’s meeting, is lengthy at 357 pages. It provides both context as to how the borough exists today, presenting information on demographics and other key data, and a vision of where the council wishes to take it, with a series of strategic objectives listed.
These range from delivering affordable homes for local people and families to responding to the climate emergency and supporting its town centres. The majority of the growth in the borough is to be directed into four regeneration areas, focussing on White City, Hammersmith Town Centre, Fulham and South Fulham Riverside.
Thousands of new homes and other units are expected to be built alongside the regeneration of existing sites, such as the W12 Shopping Centre in Shepherd’s Bush. Town centres are also to be enhanced and key assets like the Grade I-listed Brompton Cemetery protected.
Perhaps the most eye-catching aspiration, and one the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has covered previously, is that of potentially removing the Hammersmith Flyover and parts of the A4 and constructing a tunnel. Plans to replace the flyover have been circulating for years, alongside reworking the gyratory system.
In its draft plan, the council writes this would release land for development while improving the quality of the town centre by removing high levels of noise and pollution. Examples of potential development which could be constructed include new homes and cultural and leisure facilities, plus upgrades to St Paul’s Green and Furnivall Gardens.
It is hoped the cost of the tunnel would ultimately be paid off by monetising the land to be freed up by removing the flyover.
The draft plan highlights a feasibility study from 2013/14 which found traffic on the A4 would be disrupted for around 18 months if the works are progressed, which is half of the overall construction time.
“Any project that comes forward will need to carefully consider this in detail against the construction methodology and design of any tunnel to ensure these impacts are minimised,” the draft plan states.
“This will also have to be weighed up against a do-nothing scenario, which would involve substantial traffic disruptions associated with regular maintenance or upgrading of the flyover.”
The LDRS previously covered the potential removal of the flyover following its inclusion in Hammersmith Town Centre’s Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). SPDs add detail to policies in the council’s Local Plan to help guide future decision making.
At the time, Richard Farthing, Chair of Hammersmith Society, told the LDRS the ‘flyunder’, or the tunnel, “was always financially and logistically challenging and depended on large long-term cash injections plus commitment from TfL”.
Hammersmith and Fulham is home to a number of key large developments and regeneration efforts, such as the forthcoming Civic Campus on King Street and the Olympia.
The proposed 4,000-home Earl’s Court redevelopment, which also crosses into Kensington and Chelsea, is another major potential project.
Applications for the site are currently with planners from both Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea.
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