Residents Win Pissarro Site Battle At Planning Committee

Revised scheme turned down by councillors

A CGI of the new design for the Pissarro site

Residents opposing a development at the former Pissarro site in Corney Reach have been buoyed by a unanimous decision by Hounslow Council Planning Committee last night (February 7th) to oppose a revised application for the site.

Developer, Fruition Properties, wants to demolish the former restaurant and replace it with residential homes. A Council planner had recommended approval of the redesigned application but the Committee voted against it.

A previously application had been refused by Hounslow Council and this decision was upheld by a Planning Inspector last year, following an appeal lodged by the developers against refusal.

The residents had said they did not believe the revised application satisfied the reasons that the Inspector had given for dismissal (see below) and they presented their arguments to councillors at the Planning Committee. There were 116 objections lodged.

The revised plan up for discussion had reduced the height of one of the blocks, along with the number of flats in the scheme, in an attempt to deal with concerns about the impact on neighbouring properties and density.

The revised application proposed the demolition of the existing building (the former restaurant) and the erection of three block buildings of a maximum height of three storeys. This would contain seven flats, five two-bedroom and two three-bedroom, plus associated access, amenity space, landscaping, refuse storage and car and cycle parking.

The first application had been declined because of the scale of the design, the loss of outlook and increased enclosure for neighbouring residents, lack of communal amenity space and failure to comply with Local Plan policies. When the Planning Inspector refused the appeal, it was on the basis of the effect of the development on the living conditions of surrounding occupiers, with particular regard to outlook.

Following the unsuccessful appeal the developer, Fruition Properties, entered into pre-application discussions with Hounslow Council planners. Initially revised plans were rejected by the Council so the developer reduced the number of flats in the development by one and lowered the rear block by a storey as well as reconfiguring part of the roof. An earlier proposal for the site put forward in 2016 had envisaged 11 flats at the location.

Current view of the site

February 11, 2019