Forum Topic

Hounslow to Abolish Chiswick Home Improvement Rights

Hounslow is planning to abolish some Chiswick residents’ home improvement rights (aka “permitted development rights”) by imposing “Conservation Status” on several areas within Chiswick including the Glebe Estate.Once adopted the council can restrict home improvements such as loft and other extensions, choices of replacement windows & doors, garden walls, external decorations etc and the pruning of trees.Several neighbours have protested at the unnecessary imposition of these controls on an estate that has rarely looked better & where permitted development rights can really only be exercised, out of sight, at the back of terraced houses where they do not affect the estate’s “look and feel”.Residents of the estate previously voted 60:40 against such a proposal and aware of that vote, the council is forcing through an online survey of opinion with a deadline that expires before COVID restrictions end thereby preventing neighbours from discussing their replies or holding another public debate. The planning department says there is no statutory obligation to consult residents before removing their home improvement rights, it has not done so in the past  and does not intend to do so now. Cynically it did agree to extend the survey deadline by 30 days but not long enough to  escape COVID lock-down.This is an undemocratic and unnecessary infringement of our rights at a time when home owners are otherwise preoccupied,  have no chance of protesting and no way of ensuring that the council’s powers are being used properly of proportionately. These extra planning controls will increase the costs of maintaining properties, restrict investment and ultimately force poorer residents off the estate - a seemingly perverse objective for a labour run council.https://sites.google.com/view/glebenoFocus on the estate's future!

John Haftke ● 2053d15 Comments

I struggle to understand what goes through the  minds of some of the people in Hounslow's planning department I really do. It is typical of the council to 'consult' and then totally ignore the result if it goes against what they want.Isleworth has the riverside conservation area - and some of us seem to spend inordinate amounts of time defending that status against the council who seem happy to allow people to drive a coach and horses through that designation. As for permitted development rights - well! A few months ago Hounslow council did some works on some of their properties (outside the conservation area) which caused a real hoo-ha - painting the houses a sickly mustard colour, against the householders wishes - apparently to 'preserve the streetscape'? The housing department in their wisdom(?) and against any legislation we could find, applied for planning permission for this work and they also removed the PD rights of those homes.  No amount of FOI requests or enquiries via councillors has been able to ascertain exactly why they did this. Fortunately the Office of the Information Commissioner has undertaken to look into this. On top of all this hasn't Covid provided local councils with all sorts of excuses for doing - or not doing - things that local residents object to. Disgraceful.

Vanessa Smith ● 2053d

What concerns me is the whole "under the radar" approach to removing these valuable rights.  No local posters, no leaflets through the door, just one unassuming, grey LBH Planning Dept letter with a web link, is all the "heads up" residents will get.

John Haftke ● 2053d

The drawing of the boundaries of these conservation areas is a bit of mystery.  I live on a side street on the boundary of the expanded TG Conservation Area which I am convinced is only included for geographical neatness because LBH planning have ensured that any property on my road with any architectural merit was either demolished (and replaced with a block of flat with less architectural merit than the cheap bricks they are built with) or upgraded in a way to remove all distinctive architectural features - both developments were approved by LBH

Justin Stephenson ● 2053d

I’m seriously concerned about the possible imposition of this conservation area nonsense on the Glebe Estate. I’ve made my views know on the online survey but I worry that many other residents will forget to do it before the deadline. LBH should be ashamed of themselves trying to get this through under lockdown conditions when people can’t meet to discuss it. I’ve lost all respect for LBH.

Michael David Rowe ● 2053d

Where the hell are local councillors when all this is going on? Do they make a point of rolling over for the paid officers, has anyone told them that the whole point of being elected is to represent people.

Vanessa Smith ● 2052d

In fairness to Councillor Joanna Biddolph she did at least reply to our concerns and is in favour of a public debate.  2 other local councillors Ranjit Gill & Ron Mushiso haven't contributed and Peter Matthew the Executive in charge of Planning doesn't even reply to directly addressed letters, despite Steve Curran, Leader of the Council, assuring me of a reply. One can only assume that the Planning department is above local accountability and clearly disdains democratic discussion.

John Haftke ● 2052d

If you follow the link in my first post there's a page you can print out to put in your window to try and raise local awareness, I think the Planning Dept is counting on most people just sleep walking into having their rights taken away.

John Haftke ● 2052d

Peter Matthew is the very same officer who refused point blank to lower himself to answer our queries, he clearly considers communicating with the peasantry far beneath him.

Vanessa Smith ● 2052d

With respect, Vanessa, you pretty much just answered your own question about local councillors engaging with the Cabinet monopoly.There is no Conservative representation on the Cabinet. Nor is there representation from all boroughs within Hounslow. The committee system you spoke of would go a long way toward rectifying this imbalance.

David Lesniak ● 2052d

To follow up, I've now had two replies. The first came a few days ago and was disappointing so I followed up. The second is very firm - there is no chance of a public meeting. First responseI have discussed the issues you raised with Cllr Curran as Lead Member of Planning, and Peter Matthew. This matter was in progress well before the pandemic and we did think very carefully about continuing with this project in the light of the situation. We decided to continue as we have always done, sending paper consultation letters to individual addresses with a phone number on how to contact us, but consulting for a longer than the usual 6 week period in order to give everyone a fair and equitable chance to respond. For example, in our experience sending the letter does encourage those who cannot use computers easily to contact us and it has always worked well. For this reason we continued with a modified consultation process. Legally we are required to designate areas of character which we think are special. However, rather surprisingly,  legally we are not actually required to do any consultation at all. That is not something we prefer to do. We have not held public meetings such as have now been proposed in the past and are not required to do so and therefore the residents of the Glebe Estate are being treated equitably with all other residents of the Borough. As always, all responses will be logged and very carefully considered before a decision is made on whether to recommend to Cabinet that they confirm the designation. While I am aware of the residents own referendum on this matter, the GERA website shows this took place some time ago (2013/14) and we have to consider current opinions on the matter, which we consider are best sought by giving all individuals their own independent chance to consider and respond. We invite anyone to contact us with any issues that need clarifying in order for them to make a response. Nonetheless, by the time any consultation report is  being drafted and then made publicly available and any recommendation sent to Cabinet you may be able (depending on the pandemic and Local Plan Examination this is likely to be late summer/early autumn) to hold the meeting you request and residents can report any written comments arising from that to you and other ward members at the time, and you should be able to make representations to Cabinet, as I believe is allowed to happen. I hope this clarifies matters for you. Please phone or email me if you would like to discuss this further, or we can meet online.Second responseAs you are aware, this is the final tranche of consultations on 28 conservation area appraisals that we have taken forward.  As Sean has indicated, although there is no requirement to consult on them, Cabinet agreed that we should do so.  Public meetings have not been held in relation to any of the other tranches of consultations. The consultation provides residents an opportunity to express their views which will then be considered by the team.  That some anonymous leaflet has been circulated promoting misleading stuff is not a basis for the council to inconsistently respond by agreeing to public meeting.  Having consulted Cllr Curran, we have extended the consultation by a month, and will not be agreeing to a public meeting.

Joanna Biddolph ● 2052d

'Legally we are required to designate areas of character which we think are special.'That may be the case, what a pity then that having identified these 'special' areas of character preserving and defending them isn't up there with the legal requirements.

Vanessa Smith ● 2051d

Just to include in the loop all those interested, I have posted below my reply to Councillor Biddolph who kindly forwarded the Planning Dept's dismissive response. Dear Joanna,Thank you for forwarding Peter Matthew's most contemptuous message dismissing our attempts to provide an alternative point of view as "misleading stuff" which are discounted primarily because our neighbourhood leaflet was distributed unsigned. Perhaps it would help to ask people to contact you and him personally to validate our concerns?There is no substantive discussion of our views & apparently no need for further public consultation because his department answers to a higher calling in protecting our neighbourhood from the threat we ourselves pose to it. As his colleague Sean Doran put it "we are required to designate areas of character which we think are special" and by "we" he means them and the criteria for "think" & "special" remain unquestionable.This is an exceptionally high-handed response to perfectly reasonable concerns, politely raised and it beggars belief that a bureaucracy within the the council should hold itself in such office that it can remove our common rights without consulting us or having its assessment of our needs openly questioned. The fact that other neighbourhoods have not raised similar concerns only demonstrates the effectiveness of the council's "below the radar" approach.Clearly Hounslow's bureaucracy is again re-asserting its autocratic streak at the expense of its residents and we are not to have a voice with which to answer.Please let us know how you intend to help us be meaningfully heard.RegardsJohn Haftke

John Haftke ● 2051d

Based on the experience around Barrowgate Road the biggest threat to the special character of conservation areas appears to be LBH planning department who will happily waive through the most mediocre of architecture as long as it involves demolishing a beautiful large Victorian or Edwardian building

Justin Stephenson ● 2051d

Hits the nail on the head!

Vanessa Smith ● 2051d

It's the same council that wanted to asphalt over our pavements which is hardly in keeping with preserving the history of the neighbourhood.

John Haftke ● 2051d