Threat to Spring Grove Conservation Area

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Plans to demolish Vine Lodge in Church Road

There is another (new) proposal to demolish the perfectly good family home Vine Lodge in Church Road and replace it with a block of 8 flats. Vine Lodge (below) is a substantial detached home with a large garden near the Church Road/Thornbury Rd junction. See below for reasons for objection. You must comment again even if you did so last time.

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How to object or comment, by Friday 2nd June

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The Planning Application's number is P/2023/1409

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On the Council's website:

• Click on Planning and Building on the home page.

• Click on Planning Permission

• Click on Search Planning Applications

• Accept the Terms and Conditions (just a formality)

• Click on Planning Search

• Then in the Quick Search box type in the number above and click on the pink Search button.

  Click on the System Reference number itself again in the application screen for all the details of the application to come up and then you get an option to comment.

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Warning: If you can, write your comment on a Word document and save it there before copying and pasting into the council's online box. This is to avoid timing out.

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Or more simply, but still quoting the application number, email:

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planning.appresponses@hounslow.gov.uk

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You can also send a letter to the Planning Officer Sophie Middleton, Hounslow House, 7

Bath Road, Hounslow, TW3 3EB.

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A sample objection letter can be downloaded by clicking here 

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URGENT PLEASE READ

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1. The house, still good enough to be used as a domestic home, is a historic building in a conservation area. It is believed to date back as early as 1804, ie over 200 years. In particular, the council's own document regarding Spring Grove Conservation Area in particular describes the following as pressures on the area (i.e., undesirable):

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• Enlargement of the remaining buildings leading to intensification development over historic plots / increased site usage.

• Demand for enlargement and redevelopment to greater intensity of buildings and site

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The council's own Conservation Areas appraisal document states that 'New developments should preserve and enhance the quality of the conservation area'. The demolition of Vine Lodge and the vintage front wall and its replacement with an entire block of flats is completely at odds with the 1930s buildings beside it and the Edwardian Arts and Craft style semi-detached houses opposite, having a much larger footprint than an individual house. In the present day, the local 'Davis' houses have multiple occupations and uses but still survive.

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2. The lack of compatibility with the Council's Zero Carbon 2030 target.

Demolishing a perfectly good home on the site currently is against new best practice thinking about retaining and refurbishing buildings because of the embodied carbon that would be involved in constructing a replacement building.

This applies even taking into account a potential improvement in energy performance by the replacement building. In addition, the large number of parking spaces planned (9 against the current 2), with no electric car charging points, is out of line with current council policy for low car use developments and will lead to massive loss of greenery due to the access needed to have the car park at the back of the current garden, plus visitors' cars would park in the road. The site has a poor public transport rating (PTAL) of 2.

 

3. Loss of Trees - out of 22 trees on the site, only two are described as in poor condition by the tree surveyor, yet a shocking 19 out of the 22 trees are proposed for actual removal by the applicant. The council's own website says that trees enhance the local environment and provide numerous benefits including:

• helping to lower dust and noise levels and reducing pollutant gases

• providing habitats for a range of wildlife and moderating temperature

• should be replaced at a ratio of 2:1 if removed - there are no proper plans for this.

 

4. Drainage - the applicant does not know if they can connect to existing drainage. This is in an area where there have been recent drainage problems involving major repairs by Thames Water.

 

5. Our email is hdtimes@talk 21.com or email OWGRA on info@owgra.org.uk

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