'Disappointed' residents say character of Windmill Road will be changed forever

The building which was proposed to be demolished on Windmill Road. Photo: Google Streetview

A plan to build an aparthotel on Windmill Road, just off Chiswick High Road, has been given the go-ahead at a planning appeal this week. It had been turned down by Hounslow Council planners two years ago and fiercely opposed by locals.

Residents had opposed the plan (Ref 01218/10/P11) on the grounds that a proposal to build 78 (formerly 85) apartments would create a high density population in a quiet street of mainly terraced cottages. They were also concerned about noise and traffic. They said it would change the character of Windmill Road forever.

A residents' spokesperson said they were very disappointed and felt very let down by the Inspector's decision to allow the apart hotel to go ahead.

The developers propose demolition of the existing building to build a three-storey plus lower ground storey and set-back fourth storey building. There is also a shared surface loading bay and a disabled parking bay.

Hounslow Council's planning officers had turned down the application in 2016 saying that the scale of the proposal was "excessive" for the size of the site and it would have an adverse impact on living conditions for nearby residents.

The owners of the site, Lamington UK, specialise in serviced apartments and rentals in West London for business and leisure guests. They own and manage similar facilities in Fulham, Brook Green and Hammersmith.

The developers appealed their case for an aparthotel while concurrently putting forward a planning application to build apartments on the site as a back-up plan. This week, Hounslow Council planners turned down their application but in the same week, Lamington has won its appeal at the Planning Inspectorate, meaning the aparthotel plan can go ahead. The inspector found that this would be preferable in terms of its impact than a full-time residential development. You can read the appeal result here in full.

An aparthotel is a hybrid hotel complex that provides for self catering visitors, typically business people on short term lets, or tourists.

Artist's impression of what the new building might look like

Some residents had their preference would have been for a previous plan for the site, which would have seen six town houses built there. Several local people live in terraced cottages nearby which they say will be completely dominated by the new development.

Planning permission had been granted in 2015 for a change of use of the building from office to 22 residential units (ref 01218/10/PA3). This was a fallback position for the developer and the permission expires in December 2019..

The Inspector found that the proposed building would not appear uncharacteristically wide. The existing building is three storeys and the proposed building, in terms of what would front directly onto Windmill Road, would be more like two and a half storeys, meaning the front parapet would be slightly lower than the existing building. There would be an additional floor above this but it would be set well back from the front elevation. Therefore, overall, he do not consider that the resulting building would appear significantly taller or more dominant than the existing building so as to amount to harm to the character and appearance of the area.

He found that the character of Windmill Road would be preserved despite the proximity of the new building.

"Although the proposal is for a much larger building with a far greater footprint, the extent of which would be most visually apparent in views from the common, it has, however, been designed to positively address this public area due to its angled design and the inclusion of a large, feature window. I therefore find no harm in respect of views from Chiswick Common, and for the same reasons I also find no harm in terms of the increased footprint of the building.

"Local residents raised concerns in respect of the living conditions of occupiers of the terrace properties in Windmill Road. I visited two of the properties concerned during my site visit and I am satisfied that the proposal would not be harmful to their outlook ....

"The front to front relationship between the terraces and the proposed building would not be unusual and although the office building may have been quieter than the anticipated apart-hotel in the evenings and at weekends I have to consider the ‘fallback’ position whereby residential flats would have a similar effect on the terrace properties at all times of day in terms of noise and overlooking."

The car park beyond the one outside Marks & Spencer was to be part of the site. Picture: Google Streetview

A spokesperson for local residents said they were very disappointed, "If the developers proceed with this project the character of the street will be changed forever by the density of this hotel, the noise, the traffic, the pressure on parking, the mopeds, the taxis. We must just hope that they will consider the community of people living here and try to minimise the discomfort this development will inevitably cause.

"We do feel rather let down by the Inspector - especially as we had always hoped the site would be used to provide housing for which permission was granted a few years ago and which residents did not oppose. "

Councillor Joanna Biddolph said, "I am very disappointed by this decision. Yet again, the developer’s voice is heard over those of residents. It’s impossible to know how much of an effect an Aparthotel will have on people living in Windmill Road – the developers have not run such a large Aparthotel in London - but it seems inevitable that there will be some disturbance and that it will change the road’s character. It would have been easy for the developer to make some compromises, such as the angle of the building, but it was not interested in local opinion. I hope Lamington will be sensitive to locals and build good relationships with its neighbours during construction and afterwards."

We have contacted Lamington for comment.

September 30, 2018