Hope renewed that location could still host a restaurant

An application to redevelop the former Pissarro restaurant site at Corney Reach into flats has been withdrawn.

The plans for the Chiswick riverside site had been controversial with residents generally firmly opposed to the plans which would have extended the existing site and build eight two-bedroom flats with parking spaces and bicycle storage.

Hounslow Council's planning committee were due to consider the application on Wednesday but residents were confident that it would have been refused hence the late withdrawal. Together with community groups and charities around Corney Reach they had filed nearly 200 objections. They also employed experts to help demonstrate that a change of use was not warranted.

The Corney Reach residents’ group said there were more than 36 expressions of interest to take over the site as a café/bar/restaurant but for one reason or another these have either been rejected or not progressed by the freeholders, Gort Investments.

Those interested in taking on the restaurant reportedly include a celebrity TV chef and some Chiswick backers.

The restaurant, which was named in honour of the 'Father of French Impressionism', Camille Pissarro (who painted many local scenes in the 1890s), opened in the late 1990s when it was owned by local investors. The restaurant has had a chequered history ,and at one stage suffered a serious fire. It closed down last January with management saying there was not enough business to make it a commercial success.

August 22, 2014