Developer Wins Appeal To Build Homes On Pissarro Site

Residents 'stunned' at judgement relating to former riverside restaurant site

A CGI of the new design for the Pissarro site

Residents at Corney Reach who have been campaigning against a housing development for the former Pissarro's restaurant site, have said they are 'stunned' at the Planning Inspector's decision to overturn previous refusals and grant planning permission.

The decision was announced yesterday (Monday, 12th August) in favour of Fruition, which was making its second appeal, following the refusal of a revised design by Hounslow Council Planning Committee in February.

A spokesperson for the Save Pissarro campaign, which is seeking to have the site preserved for use by the community, said "We are stunned by the nature of the decision."

They will now consider their options to continue the campaign.

The Facebook page of Save Pissarro's said that the Inspector's decision had "dismissed all three reasons for refusal, dismissed the local and historical knowledge of two unanimous planning committees and dismissed the 100s of letters pointing out the issues with applications."

The residents can still appeal to the High Court but that would involve considerable expense.

The hearing before the Planning Inspector took place last month. It was decided to hold a public hearing to clarify matters and test the evidence by questioning; and also because of the level of public interest the appeal has attracted.

Residents opposing the development had initially been buoyed by a unanimous decision by Hounslow Council Planning Committee (February 7th) to oppose a revised application for the site. A Council planner had recommended approval of the redesigned application but the Committee voted against it.

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

The locals want it retained as a community asset or pub.

Current view of the site

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.

That revised plan was rejected by the Planning Committee and it was then decided to launch a second appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, which has now been successful for Fruition.

August 14, 2019