45 Years of Public Access to Brentford Dock Set to End

Residents succeed in closing off riverfront to non-residents

Gates at Brentford Dock asserting that it is private property. Picture: Jim Storrar

January 13, 2023

Extra fencing has now been erected at Brentford Dock to further restrict access to the development for non-residents. New electronically controlled gates have been installed on the eastern side of the estate.

This looks set to put an end to 45 years of public access to the site which provides views across the Thames looking over at Kew Gardens.

Brentford Dock is effectively a triangular “island”, bounded to the north by the Grand Union Canal to the south east by the River Thames, and to the west by Syon Park, a 200 acre private park.

The company which manages the estate initially took action to restrict access during the lockdown as there were growing problems with people leaving litter on the site and having barbeques.

Signs appeared saying ‘no access’ and ‘residents only’ and security guards were employed on the estate but regular non-resident users largely ignored them.

However, a legal challenge by Brentford Dock Ltd confirmed that it was able to restrict right of way and it is now seeking to enforce this by more permanent measures.

Picture: Brentford Dock

Cllr Guy Lambert asserts that it has always been council policy to provide as much public access to the waterside as possible and public right of way has been a condition of more recent developments including Ballymore’s Brentford project.

However, because the Brentford Dock estate is privately owned, there is no way for the council to force it to maintain access.

Cllr Lambert says, “This was built by the GLC in the 1970s, but moved from being developed as a council estate when the Greater London Council (GLC) became a Conservative authority and deemed as 'too good for council tenants' and mainly sold off to private owners.

"My understanding is that the right of way along the river that flows all of the Hounslow Thames (with the exceptions above) was at some point given up for the part of Brentford Dock that is privately owned. Brentford Dock (as I understand it) have a legal argument for denying access in a way that no other people who live on the river have that right, because access is protected by the council (many of us private leaseholders have some costs to keep the place accessible, tidy and safe for passers).

"Brentford Dock, due to doziness or a different principle operated by the Conservative GLC have a technical argument to make access private.”

He adds that he hopes that the Brentford Dock residents ‘are happy with their isolation’ but that he would have preferred to see a compromise which would have involved simply forbidding barbeques.

There are 1,500 tenants and residents of Brentford Dock who pay a maintenance fee of over £200 a month per flat for the upkeep and security of the development. Solicitors acting for Brentford Dock Ltd have argued that closing the area off is justified because it is not reasonable to require residents to pay for provision of a public park which they would have to clean and maintain.