Renewed Bid For Strand On The Green Houseboat Mooring

Revised plan for controversial project submitted to Hounslow Council

A renewed bid is being made to create moorings for two houseboats at Steam Packet Steps, opposite Cafe Rouge at Strand on the Green. A revised planning application has been lodged with Hounslow Council, following the withdrawal some months ago of the original proposal.

The Strand on the Green Association (SoGA) had objected to the first application on a number of grounds, including visual impact on a conservation area, the potential for navigational hazards, damage to ecology, and noise, pollution and rubbish. They also said it would have led to 'houseboat creep' in the area.

Strand on the Green Sailing Club, which has been in operation over 70 years, also voiced its opposition. The club said having houseboats moored at that spot could cause safety problems. The moorings would "significantly intrude" into the navigable water of river, and create a hazard for dinghy and other sailing activities. Houseboats moorings would effectively be a privatisation of the river and of no benefit to the public, the Club stated.

The current planning application seeks moorings for 2 residential vessels or houseboats. It involves the installation of 2 steel piles to hold everything in place, a timber grid, so that the moored boats will sit level when the tide is out, a pontoon to separate and provide access to the moored boats, a hinged access ramp from the river bank to the pontoon, and mains services. The piles would comprise circular hollow steel piles driven some 4m into the river
bed.

The applicant maintains that the proposal complies with Local Plan policy for residential moorings. The limited extent of the moorings means they would have minimal impact on river
views, whether into or out of the Conservation Area, or along, across or from the river. Their location away from the sitting areas and their elevation in relation to the land means that the moored boats would only be prominent at high water.

The moorings are located off the navigation channel and well away from the drawdock and adjacent river bank at Kew Bridge, where other boating activity is focused. The Port of London Authority (PLA) is satisfied that this proposal would not interfere with navigation.

The applicant also claims that river frontage at Strand on the Green was used for mooring boats and barges from the 18th century until the mid-20th century. In particular it was used by vessels associated with the Pier House Laundry, built in 1905, and the Steam Packet Public House (now Café Rouge).

There are no other houseboats in this area although there are communities of houseboats in Brentford, past Kew Bridge.

It is not known at this stage how far any revised application will go to meet the concerns of local residents and the sailing club. Letters have been circulated to local residents from Hounslow Council inviting comments on the application.

This is separate to the application which was submitted in May 2018, and subsequently withdrawn by the applicant. Hounslow Council will not consider any comments made on the previous application when considering this new proposal. Comments (which may be unchanged from those made on the previous application) can be sent to the case officer at Hounslow Council via: Eamon.Cassidy@hounslow.gov.uk

This application for residential moorings is not connected with a recent proposal for a 'Chiswick Beach' facility for 25 houseboats and a leisure facility.

July 13, 2018