Isleworth: Allotments plan bid to line duke's pockets, inquiry told

A bid by the Duke of Northumberland to replace allotments with dozens of flats in west London is an effort to "line" his "already deep pockets", a planning inquiry has heard.

Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke of Northumberland, lost an application in October 2021 to build 80 flats on Park Road Allotments in Isleworth.

It received more than 900 objections from locals.

The site is part of the duke's Grade I-listed Syon Park estate in Hounslow.

Northumberland Estates says the plans would help fund conservation works at Syon House, which is privately owned but open to the public.

The inquiry follows an appeal by the development company.

A loss of local open space (LOS) was one reason behind Hounslow Council's planning committee decision to refuse planning permission.

Key worker housing for the neighbouring West Middlesex University Hospital was promised and there would still be a place for those who use the allotments, the inquiry heard.

Isleworth councillor Salman Shaheen described it as "an ill-conceived plan designed not to support a treasured historic asset, but to destroy one for private gain".

He said: "Hounslow has comfortably met its housing targets by allowing development on the ample brownfield sites in the area.

"That we have been able to do so without paving over our green space makes me ask what the imperative would be to change that now, except to line the duke's already deep pockets?"

He added that "a man richer than the King has shown no evidence to prove that the only way to fund the repairs to one historic asset is by destroying another historic asset".

The Isleworth site has been used as allotments since 1917 when the duke's ancestor leased the land to the council to help after the First World War.

Claire Niven, for the Park Road Allotment Association, said Northumberland Estates was proposing "sacrificing 71% of allotments at the heart of a community".

She added the site also hosted nature walks, open days, litter picking, apple and blackberry picking, and allotment holders organised food bank donations.

Melissa Murphy KC, for Northumberland Estates, said the project would deliver "40% affordable housing".

Period dramas such as The Madness Of King George, Emma, and Gosford Park have been filmed at Syon House.

The hearing was adjourned to Wednesday.

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