Nursery Plan for Chiswick Station House |
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Permission sought to replace car parking with outdoor play area
January 7, 2026 A new planning application has been submitted to Hounslow Council seeking permission to alter previously approved plans for the forecourt area at Chiswick Station House, paving the way for the Grade II-listed building to be used as a children’s nursery. The application has been lodged by CSH 14 Ltd, which is now seeking to vary conditions attached to earlier planning and listed-building consents for the site by the railway station (as opposed to the Station House pub on the other side of the tracks). The proposals would replace four existing car parking spaces with an outdoor play area and make minor alterations to the extension already approved for the building. Two linked applications have been submitted: a Section 19 application to vary the approved plans attached to the listed building consent and a Section 73 application to vary the approved plans and operating-hours condition attached to the planning permission These seek the go ahead to convert the forecourt car park into a secure outdoor amenity space for nursery use with the installation of fencing between the site and the station car park for safeguarding. This will require the removal of four parking spaces which are privately owned. The application also covers the replacement of a window in the new extension with a door opening onto the play area and the reconfiguration of the internal staircase to suit the nursery layout The applicant stresses that no changes are proposed to the footprint, height or massing of the extension already approved.
The original consent for the site dates back to application 00176/Q/P9, which approved a two-storey side extension to the historic Station House. This was followed by two rounds of minor amendments in 2019 and 2020 (refs 00176/Q/P10 and 00176/Q/P11). In approving the 2020 variation, the council confirmed that works had lawfully begun, with excavation and foundations completed in early 2020. This means the permission remains “extant” and can be amended rather than resubmitted in full. The building itself, constructed in 1849 as part of the Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway, is Grade II-listed and sits within the Chiswick House Conservation Area. It has most recently been used as offices, but the applicant says that the building benefits from an open Class E use, meaning a nursery does not require a change-of-use application.
The applicant’s heritage assessment concludes that the changes would cause no harm to the listed building or the conservation area. The new fencing would sit away from the historic structure, and the replacement of a window with a door is described as a “minor” alteration to the modern extension rather than the heritage asset itself. The applicant also argues that bringing the vacant building back into use as a nursery provides a public benefit, supporting early-years provision in line with national planning policy. The application is submitted by CSH 14 Ltd, a company registered at Companies House only six months ago. The company has no previous planning history in Hounslow and was incorporated specifically to manage this site. The council will now consider the proposed variations to the approved plans. Residents can view and comment on the applications via Hounslow Council’s planning portal using the references included in the submission.
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