Syon House: Duke should find alternative funding for repairs, hearing told

Alternative ways of funding repairs to the Grade-I listed Syon Park in west London should be considered rather than replacing allotments with new homes, a planning appeal has been told.

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

Hounslow Council gave a loss of open space as one of the reasons.

Northumberland Estates (NE) said it would help pay for conservation work.

When the plan was first rejected, the council had received more than 900 objections from locals who hailed the site as "a bedrock in our community", an "oasis" and as a "precious pocket of open space".

In closing statements to the hearing, Ed Grant, for the council, said the duke "has a very wide property portfolio but apparently wishes for the Syon estate to pay for itself rather than to receive cross-subsidy from within the wider estate".

He said the inquiry had heard it was "a business choice" by NE to treat the Syon Estate as self-funding, and that the estate had not provided its financial records.

But NE said its plans would help provide an income stream for conservation works for the property, which is privately-owned but open to the public.

It also promised key worker housing for staff at neighbouring West Middlesex University Hospital as part of the scheme.

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

Claire Nevin, for the Park Road Allotment Association (PRAA), said NE's proposal would sacrifice 71% of allotments.

Lucy McCann, for The Isleworth Society told the hearing Ruth Cadbury, the Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth, stated that Hounslow was exceeding its housing target, including for affordable housing - while Isleworth councillor Salman Shaheen said the borough could meet its housing demands on brownfield sites.

Syon House was designed by architect Robert Adam and is "one of the great historic houses of England", Melissa Murphy KC, for NE said.

Period dramas such as The Madness Of King George and Gosford Park have been filmed there.

Ms Murphy said the money raised from rents would be spent on recladding external walls in honey-coloured Bath stone so the house would "look as it did when resplendent in the 18th century".

"It would pay for the renovation of the Robert Adam interiors so they can be appreciated in all their magnificent flamboyance," she added.

"These works would make a real difference to the house and to the many visitors who would enjoy and appreciate it in all its glory, far sooner than would be the case without the income."

No date was given for when the appeal decision would to made.

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