Controversial Parsons Green Office Block Approved
Opponents say scheme will do 'irreversible harm' to area
Artist's impression seen from Peterborough Road. Image: Martin's Properties
A huge office block is set to be built in Parsons Green despite residents’ fears it will offer views into their bathrooms.
Martin’s Properties has negotiated with Hammersmith and Fulham Council for nearly three years to get their controversial development in Peterborough Road approved.
On Monday, 10 June, it was voted through despite more than 100 objections.
A hired planning expert said it would do “irreversible harm” to a residential neighbourhood where homes have sold for more than £3 million.
With a set of stepped roofs going from two storeys to five storeys tall, the “odd” block will replace Alexander House, a 1950s warehouse with car park.
Its 50,000 square feet of new office space could provide space for 245 workers, the plans say. Unusually, the development also includes two new houses, to be built beside existing homes in Peterborough Mews.
Monday’s planning committee heard “well in excess of 100 objections” had been made by local residents, although 79 are officially listed.
A group of residents with homes in Broomhouse Road and Peterborough Mews hired a former Government planning inspector, James Crouch, to fight their case.
“It has no respect for its neighbours or the heritage of the area,” said Mr Crouch.
He added: “Peterborough Road is a residential street, not a commercial street as it has been presented. There are bathrooms that all face towards the site.”
And Mr Crouch argued “irreversible harm” would be done to the nearby Grade II-listed Duke on the Green pub in New King’s Road.
CGI image of new office building. Image: Martin''s Properties
The council’s planning team said the site was suitable for the scheme, which would “provide an upgraded modern facility with additional net employment, generating floorspace within the borough”.
And the developer said 100 new jobs would be created, while the council has suggested 20 of those jobs would go to local people.
Whereas local councillor Mark Loveday called the plans an “oddity”, and said “all these homes are going to be affected by the massing”. “We can’t support that and I urge this committee not to,” he said.
A spokesman for the developer, Simon Wallis, said: “The vast majority of the property will have impacts within the BRE guidelines,” meaning properties would not lose sunlight.
He added that windows of the side of the block would be “opaque” to “protect the privacy” of neighbours.
The developer has offered to provide the co-working space at “affordable” rents for the first 12 months after its opening. And its roof will have solar panels and a garden.
The planning committee’s eight councillors voted the development through, with five in favour and three against.
Martin’s Properties was approached for comment but no response was received.
Owen Sheppard - Local Democracy Reporter
June 12, 2019