Chiswick Skyscraper not dead

Mystery developer Clifton Cape to proceed with appeal

A report on this site that the 28 storey tower block has proven to be inaccurate. Clifton Cape is intended to continue with the appeal against the refusal of planning permission for this development.

A member of the West Chiswick and Gunnersbury Society (WCGS) had been informed by a planning officer at Hounslow that the appeal against the refusal was to be dropped. In fact Clifton Cape are appealing the three old planning applications at the same time as the two new ones, although they were unable to get them all heard together on Feb 24th, which is what they intended.

The appeal on the larger tower block application is likely to be heard in May or June around the time of the London Assembly elections on June 10th. The current Mayor of London apparently supports both proposals.

The original proposals included knocking down the John Bull, which has since been declared a building of local townscape character and the whole site for both plans is now in a Conservation Area, which the Planning Inspector will have to consider.

A spokesman for the WCGS said, "we are disappointed that the decision at this important site is not going to be made by elected councillors, and it seems that the developers are attempting to bypass the democratic process."

The separate application for two new tower blocks in Chiswick Business Park may not be scheduled to go to the Sustainable Development Committee yet because Section 106 payments have not yet been agreed.

These are payments made by the developer as a condition of being granted planning permission. Originally the developers of Chiswick Business Park were to fund a £14 million trust which was to pay for the development of a tube interchange station to cope with the 10,000 workers who will ultimately be commuting to the park every day. In the event London Underground vetoed the plan as they were against introducing an extra stop on the Piccadilly line in Chiswick.

January 22, 2004