6 December 2021
Despite the powerful list of objections from Tony Firkins, the Hounslow Green Party planning spokesperson and Marie Rabouhans, Chair of the West Chiswick and Gunnersbury Residents Association, the Council Planning Committee waved the B&Q development through with a nail-biting 6-5 vote in favour, but only after the deciding vote of Corinna Smart, councillor for Brentford, who chaired the meeting.
Tony Firkins pointed out that the embedded carbon of the building and development could exceed two and a half times the Council’s CO2 current emissions thus negating Hounslow’s Climate Emergency Action Plan. Marie Roubouhans was concerned by the polluted air residents will breathe, the harm to heritage, noise, density of the housing proposed, the inadequacy of the amenities for residents and in general the poor quality of life offered for residents and visitors, as well as the high level of carbon emissions. The buildings will also have the ‘benefit’ of over 300 parking spaces, in contravention of the Council’s commitment to zero extra parking in the Borough.
There were no answers on who precisely the hotel is for, why there are so many parking spaces, the preponderance of studio flats when the council has committed itself to providing family accommodation, and the fact that the development will be surrounded by some of the most congested, polluted roads in London.
Stephen Clark, the Green Party candidate for Brentford West in next year’s local elections, commented “The Council were unduly impressed by the promise of a so-called ‘Technology Showcase’ - a very vague scheme without any apparent backing from educational institutions or businesses. It’s a vast expenditure of money and carbon for an uncertain return.”
