First step in eventual residential development of riverside site

The go ahead has been given for the demolition of Pissarro restaurant despite a campaign by local residents to block the move.

Gort Investments was seeking to knock down the building and turn the riverside site into a three-storey residential complex. It originally sought permission to demolish the vacant building in January but withdrew the application and submitted a new prior notification of their intention to knock it down last month.

Reportedly, it is intended to proceed with demolition on 1 April.

The Facebook page of the campaign to keep a restaurant at the site issued an update saying, "Worst News - The developers have been granted to permission to demolish the Pissarro's building. The feeling and opinions of the community have been entirely ignored."

Local residents are generally opposed to the proposed plans for six two-bedroom apartments, two three-bed duplex family homes and a two-bedroom penthouse. Some believe the design is incongruous with the neo-Georgian look of this area of Chiswick on the Thames and the Georgian architecture of Chiswick Mall.

The picture shows the design for green roofs and private gardens

The restaurant closed in 2013 and a previous application to redevelop the restaurant into residential units was turned down in 2014. The plans for the Chiswick riverside site had been controversial and nearly 200 residents had opposed a bid to extend the existing site and build eight two-bedroom flats with parking spaces and bicycle storage.

The current proposed development would be set across three storeys with private ground level and roof-gardens with green roofs. A total of ten car-park spaces have been included along with cycle storage.

Corney Reach Way eastern view

Pissarro, 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 in January 2014 with management saying there was not enough business in that area to make it a commercial success.

March 10, 2016