Big Turnout for Tesco/Homebase Development Exhibition
Ruth Cadbury MP among those turning out to see 3D model
Ruth Cadbury MP viewing the model of the scheme
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Over 150 local residents are estimated to have attended an exhibition of a 3D model of the massive Tesco/Homebase twin developments last week
The model was commissioned by the Osterley & Wyke Green Residents’ Association (OWGRA) to show the true scale of the schemes around Gillette Corner. Opponents of the scheme have said that the documentation submitted by the developer does not give a proper indication of the size of the planned buildings.
The exhibition which was open to the public on the 22 and 24 October also included an alternative proposal for the site.
The model shows the proposed 17 storey tower blocks dwarfing the surrounding mainly 2 storey houses, the Grade II listed Gillette building and the 6-storey Access Storage building currently under construction at Gillette Corner.
Also attending were Ruth Cadbury MP, Shaun Bailey (Tory candidate for Mayor of London elections 2021), Steve Curran (Leader of Hounslow Council) and a number of Hounslow Councillors.
Ruth Cadbury said, "I'd like to congratulate OWGRA for explaining the scheme through the professional quality scale model and information boards. It makes it easier to understand the layout and the potential impact of what is a very large proposal on the local area."
Shaun Bailey said, “"Londoners want housing developers to provide good homes and stay in keeping with the local area. That's why I'm troubled by the 17-storey development in Osterley and Wyke Green. It's not in keeping with the area and it won't provide enough family-sized homes."
One local resident commented, ““The 3D model REALLY shows you the awful impact it would have on the area. You truly get the sense of scale and how dense the development is. Truly shocks to see how it towers over everything. “
3 model of the Tesco/Homebase development. Picture: OWGRA
Richard Eason, Ward Councillor for Osterley & Spring Grove ward said, “Congratulations to OWGRA and the Residents Action Group for an excellent exhibition with a very professionally presented model illustrating the outrageous scale of these development proposals. Yes, we need more homes, but we need them now, not poor quality high rise flats next decade. These proposals have the potential to blight the area for a generation and beyond”
OWGRA is asking people to object to what they describe as ‘these preposterous planning applications’
Meanwhile, Brentford Community Council has submitted an alternative proposal for the 2 sites to Hounslow Council, and which is fully supported by OWGRA and Brentford Voice:
· Site the new Fountain Leisure Centre (which needs to be rebuilt on a new site) on the Homebase site. It would occupy the whole of the A4 frontage, leaving the extensive area behind for residential development.
· This would lead to the present Tesco store being retained. Parking, which might be reduced to the quantum in the present applications, could be partly provided in a car stack, next to the supermarket. This would release about half of the present car park for housing.
· The housing site might provide the number of units proposed in the Local Plan Review without exceeding six storeys, a height acceptable to local residents.
· The result of adopting this option would be that the Fountain Centre could be re-housed fairly quickly, the development cost for re-housing Tesco would be reduced and that none of the housing would be exposed to pollution.
· Additionally none of the developments would be ‘inappropriately’ high, which would reduce the “harm” to heritage assets and fit in better with the 2-3 storey housing in the area.
Visualisation of the new Tesco store on the Homebase site
OWGRA have also produced guidelines on how to respond to these two planning applications. Comments must be submitted by 6 November.
The reference numbers for the applications are Homebase site P/2020/3099, Tesco site P/2020/3100.
You can access the Design and Access Statement for the Homebase site here and the same document for the Tesco site which the developer has named Osterley Place here. Both documents, while containing a significant number of CGI visualisations of how the developments might look have few which give any impression of how their scale might look in context.
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October 30, 2020
