Revised plans for 7-8 Watkin Road, now with 365 student beds in up to 18 storey building, now on Brent Council Planning Portal

 

From this....

 ...to this.

 

The fragments of light industry workshops  around Wembley Stadium are rapidly being demolished and replaced by high rise blocks. The latest proposals for 7-8 Watkin Road are now on Brent Council's Planning Portal (Ref 25/1759) and open for comment LINK.

The proposal is for an 18 storey student accommodation block with the accommodation increased to 365 beds and the original industrial provision drastically reduced:

It is worth going back to a discussion that took place during the last Labour administration of in its Planning Committee, then chaired by Cllr Kelcher, about the need to slow down the amount of purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) because of potential impact on community cohesion and the continuing need for housing.  See:     Student accommodation wins narrowly over local housing need at Brent Planning Committee

 The GLA was moved to issue guidance on the subject LINK

 

I am hearing that there are concerns from residents of nearby blocks about the dominance of the proposed building and the impact of high density and loss of light on their homes, although there are no comments record yet on the planning portal.

In the light of the recent Scrutiny debate on flooding preparation it is interesting to note that the Environment Agency had concerns. The Wealdstone Brook runs behind the site.

 The site is marked in red. The trees indicate the passage of the brook.

The developer in an Addendum notes;       

The Environment Agency (EA) raised objections to the original scheme. In the original EA consultation response dated 12 November 2025, it stated that the applicant should submit a revised FRA (Flood Risk assessment)  which addresses these points:

 

“Flood storage compensation

 

• Demonstrate that adequate flood storage compensation will be provided for the loss in floodplain storage capacity due to the increase in built footprint. The best way to compensate for flood storage loss is to recreate an area of floodplain that mimics the area, shape and volume of the section of floodplain that has been lost by the development.

 

Raised finished floor levels

 

• The applicant should submit evidence to demonstrate that the proposal will not pose a risk to life and/or property. This can be achieved through demonstrating that raised finished flood levels, as outlined above, can be provided to prevent internal flooding of the development and damage to people and property.”

 

To resolve the “flood storage compensation” element the following design changes have been made:

 

• The proposed basement included in previous proposals has been omitted.

• The proposed building footprint at ground floor level has been reduced such that the new building is no larger than the existing building footprint and there is therefore no reduction in floodplain storage.

 

To resolve the “Raised finished floor levels” issue, the following is proposed:

 

• A limited non-habitable internal area (forming a cycle store with level access to external areas) is provided at 31.00m AOD. The area is not proposed to be flood plain compensation as it sits within the existing building footprint, however, does sit nominally below the maximum flood level and will therefore be managed and constructed using flood resilient techniques.

 

The Addendum addresses the reduction in replacement industrial floor space was 1.032sqm to a token 99sqm and claims the site is not in a 'traditional industrial location':   

It is noted that the Site has locational constraints particularly noting its location near to Wembley Stadium. Resultantly, the Site is impacted by road closures arising from event days, which softens its appeal for larger format industrial spaces. The proposed development at 7-8 Watkin Road is not considered to fall within this Grade A market, as it is not in a traditional industrial location, does not comprise easy access for larger vehicles and suffers with event days restrictions at Wembley Stadium

 

The proposed 99 sqm of industrial floor space will provide a smaller, high-quality and genuinely occupiable industrial space, allowing the marketing of the unit to be targeted towards SMEs, creative industries and maker-space occupiers. This is as opposed to a larger quantum of floorspace of which may struggle to attract occupiers or remain occupied in the long term as ar esult of the Site's physical and operational constraints as outlined above and further detailed within the Revised Industrial Floorspace Report prepared by Levy Real Estate.

The impact on local views of the stadium, views that are supposed to be protected, can be seen from this example from Chalkhill Park, on the other side of the railway tracks:

 Current view

 Post-build, most of the arch disappears 

Anyone expecting to be able to sunbathe in Union Park North  has another think coming.  Pipeline proposals (black) and 7-8 Watkin Road (blue) that show a circle of tall builds that will limit sunlight.

 Engineers Way

Residents of the pleasant low rise flats in Empire Way will have a new neighbour with more to come:

View from Empire Court

 

All 171 documents for this application can be found HERE plus a tab on which you can comment.  Neighbourhood Consultation ends on 12th November 2026.