Why The Planning Committee Refused Pissarro Site Development

Too dense, too enclosed, and lack of communal amenity

CGI of new building which is in the centre of the picture

Locals campaigning against a residential development on the site of the former Pissarro restaurant in Corney Reach Way were delighted when Hounslow Council Planning Committee turned down the planning application recently.

Here are the reasons for the refusal:

The proposal by reason of its size, scale and design would be disproportionate to the size of the site and fails to respond to the design and character of the surrounding townscape and would be harmful to the character and appearance of the surrounding area. The proposal is therefore considered to be contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework and adopted Local Plan policies CC1 (Context and Character), CC2 (Urban Design and Architecture), GB5 (Blue Ribbon Network), SC1 (Housing Growth) SC4 (Scale and Density of new housing development) and supplementary planning guidance.

The proposed development by reason of its size, scale and positioning would have an un- neighbourly relationship with neighbouring buildings and this would result in a loss of outlook, and an increase in the sense of enclosure for neighbouring residents’. The proposal is therefore considered to be contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework and adopted Local Plan policies CC1 (Context and Character), CC2 (Urban Design and Architecture), SC4 (Scale and Density of new housing development) and supplementary planning guidance.

The proposed development would fail to provide an adequate standard of accommodation for future occupants by virtue of a lack of communal amenity space. The proposal would fail to comply with Local Plan Policies CC1 (Context and character), CC2 (Urban Design and Architecture), and SC5 (Ensuring suitable internal and external amenity space).

A resident's spokesperson said; "Eight expensive properties on this site does not make up for the loss of an amenity to the community."

They are waiting to hear what the next move is by the developer, who could decide to appeal, change the plan or even try to sell the site.

Boutique developer Fruition Ltd wants to build seven two bedroom flats and one three bedroom flat with eight parking spaces at the prime riverside location. The building will be three storeys high on the side closest to the river on the site which has been vacant since 2014.

The developer had claimed the footprint of the latest design was considerably smaller than the scheme which was refused permission last year. They promised to echo the formal Georgian architecture found along the Thames with its clearly defined, formal frontages.

The application was on behalf of Corney Reach Way Ltd which is a company owned by Fruition Properties. They had claimed that the latest plans had taken into consideration the reasons for an earlier proposal by Gort Investments being refused. Fruition acquired the property from Gort of £3.5m after the previous owner's plan was turned down.

We are attempting to contact the developer for comment and will report back.

CGI of the rear of the building

The restaurant closed in 2013 and a previous application to redevelop the restaurant into residential units was turned down in 2014. The RNLI also lost the flat it rented on the premises, and there were a number of failed attempts to encourage restaurateurs to take on the site.

Current view of the site

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 had a chequered history, and at one stage suffered a serious fire. When it closed management said there was not enough business in that area to make it a commercially viable.

January 20, 2018