Last Wednesday's planning meeting was a travesty of democratic process.

The five councillors in favour come from Ealing constituencies remote from the site. Their general view was that Ealing needs regeneration, including flats and retail. Who could disagree? But the key issue is not the need, but the nature of the St George proposal.

The Liberals were disqualified from the planning committee because of their initial opposition (predetermination). Other local councillors' views (notably Anthony Young) were ignored, as were the views of thousands of local residents (pp 17-19 of the committee report), of English Heritage - 'it cannot be considered in keeping with the character or appearance of the conservation area due to the incongruity of scale, form, material and detail' - and of CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Inbuilt Environment).

The planning officer ignored or overrode (using a dubious interpretation of the previous Mayor's London Plan), Ealing's formal planning guidelines for this sensitive conservation area - 'to preserve and enhance the character of each Conservation Area and to resist inappropriate development'.

She even claimed that the retail aspects of the proposal were supported by 'recent studies' - flawed and two years out of date - ignoring the many closed shops in Ealing centre, not to mention the recession and Westfield development.

With such political processes one must ask who benefits and what's going on? The answer is St George.

The council will receive £25m (already committed) for a 200-year lease, plus some £7m section 106 money which will not alleviate the community or the transport effects of this monstrous proposal.

In short the council has, to quote CABE, 'allowed developers to drive the planning agenda', ignored massive local opposition, manipulated the tendering process (doubling the height and capacity in the original planning brief, probably in breach of EU rules on public tendering). It has even failed to get a good deal from St George.

May I urge all readers to write to the Mayor of London (who has 14 days to review this proposal), to councillors and MPs, and to alert your neighbours to the potential destruction of Ealing. It is not too late.

Ealing used to be the Queen of the Suburbs. The council seem to wish it to be a quean - an antiquated word for whore - and is selling our heritage cheaply.

NICK WOODWARD

via email