Community First — Or Just Words? Pimlico Unites Responds to Debbie Jackson

An interview published in Q3 2025 with Debbie Jackson, Executive Director for Regeneration, Economy and Planning at Westminster Council and Director of the Future of PDHU programme, places community partnership, local understanding and collaboration at the heart of successful public service reform.

If community partnership is truly “vital,” as Ms Jackson argues, then the Future of PDHU programme should demonstrate that principle in practice — not just in interviews. As Executive Director for Regeneration, Economy and Planning, and Director of the Future of PDHU programme, Ms Jackson is uniquely positioned to ensure that these principles are reflected in how this programme is run. In her own words:

“You can’t turn up with your plan that was executed somewhere else and expect it to work… The most important thing to do is start from a place of understanding the characteristics of the local community and the local places… Continued engagement is the next step that is integral.”

For residents in Pimlico, however, these stated principles contrast sharply with their experience of the Future of PDHU consultation.

What the Community Experiences

For Pimlico residents, the Future of PDHU is not an abstract policy exercise — it has direct consequences for homes, finances and daily life.

Residents have been clear, consistent and organised in expressing serious concerns about the council’s current approach. Through the Pimlico Unites survey and petition, the community has overwhelmingly rejected the direction of travel implied by the council’s shortlist of options and the assumption that a single large-scale solution is inevitable.

Under the current proposals, leaseholders face potential costs of up to £66,000 — rising to as much as £140,000 over the council’s 20-year repayment plan. Many residents also face years of disruption: flats opened up to replace pipework, roads dug up across the neighbourhood, and possible decanting from homes to enable works.

Consultation or Confirmation?

Following sustained resident pressure and campaigning by Pimlico Unites, Westminster Council announced a pause in the Future of PDHU consultation in November 2025. This pause was widely welcomed by the community as an opportunity for reflection, genuine engagement and a reset of the process.

However, since that announcement, residents have received no clear communication about what this pause is being used for. What work is being undertaken? What options are being reconsidered? And how, if at all, community feedback is shaping next steps remains unclear.

True collaboration means being prepared to change course. It means recognising that community feedback may challenge existing plans — and acting on that feedback.

Our experience suggests something different: a process where outcomes appear predetermined, and consultation is used to validate decisions already made. That approach directly contradicts Ms Jackson’s own assertion that you “can’t turn up with your plan… and expect it to work.”

Affordability Ignored, Trust Eroded

A central frustration is the council’s apparent failure to meaningfully consider affordability in its options appraisal, focusing instead on headline project cost rather than what residents can realistically pay. This has reinforced a growing sense that residents’ concerns are not being listened to — and that the pause in consultation has not been used to address the most fundamental issues raised.

The longer this lack of transparency continues, the more it undermines trust — not only in this programme, but in the council’s wider commitment to genuine partnership with its communities.

Being Left in the Dark

The absence of communication has now become more than a concern — it represents a serious risk to accountability. Requests for a further Future of PDHU Resident Working Group meeting have not been met, leaving community representatives sidelined at a critical moment.

Residents fear that the pause may simply be a holding pattern — with the risk that this massively costly project, estimated at around £400 million, will quietly resume exactly where it left off, without meaningful change, renewed consent, or democratic accountability.

The Cost of Not Listening

Residents do not oppose change, nor the exploration of solutions. What they object to is a process that appears to drive toward a predetermined outcome — particularly the assumption that a single heat network for all 3,300 homes is the best option.

If Westminster Council is serious about collaboration, the Future of PDHU programme must now demonstrate that seriousness through action. In particular, the council should:

• Publish clearly what work has been undertaken during the pause

• Re-convene the Resident Working Group immediately

• Re-appraise options based on resident affordability, not just capital cost

• Explicitly remove the presumption of a single, estate-wide heat network

  
  

These are reasonable, proportionate and constructive steps. They offer the council an opportunity to rebuild trust, demonstrate leadership, and align its actions with the values it publicly espouses.