Residents Oppose Hartington Court Scheme
Claim plans will destroy Art Deco building in conservation area
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Details of the plans are available in Chiswick Library - ref. 00566/A/P4 Comments can be sent to planningcomments@hounslow.gov.uk Sign
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Local residents are claiming that the Grove Park Conservation Area is under threat after new development plans were submitted to raise the level of Hartington Court to five floors.
The freeholder, Dovecorn Reversions is planning the development of 19 new flats on the site. Local residents and conservation groups are enraged at the plans which they feel will destroy the 1938 Art Deco features as well as obscuring the riverside view of the historic St Paul’s church steeple.
Conservation groups that have been involved in objecting to the plans include the West London Riverside Group and Chiswick Protection Society. Mac McCullagh, a property owner in Hartington Road has described the plans as likely to make the property into a “disaster area.”
“The plans are out of place. They look wrong. The proposal is wrong and unsightly” said Mr McCullagh. “They will decimate the surrounding area and are purely for the freeholder to make money.”
The Chairman of the Hartington Court Residents’ Association, Alan Day, has expressed his frustration at the development saying, “Residents want to make this the best block in Chiswick. Residents are particularly concerned that they have paid substantial amounts each for some major works undertaken on the block that are yet to be completed. The freeholder seems to be preoccupied with further development rather than completing the works he began.”
The plans involve placing nineteen flats on top of the existing building and removing many of the existing green areas to create a parking area for extra cars. There are currently fifty six flats in the court.
“The parking issue is of particular concern” said Julius Brookman, a Residents’ Association Committee member. “Apart from the basic legal issue of whether our freeholder is permitted to make the changes to our green areas under the lease, parking is already insufficient and crowded around the court.”
Mr Brookman urged the Planning Department at Hounslow Council to take into account the area's conservation status and the local listing of the building when considering the application.
March 26, 2004