The meeting on the 17th of March was scheduled to discuss three planning applications, one for the redevelopment of the Gillette Building in Isleworth for use as film studios, and two for the variation of conditions for two residential developments that were already approved, one at Manderson House on Commerce Road in Brentford, and one at Charlton House on Albany Road also in Brentford. The documents do not describe what was discussed at the meeting, or whether any decisions were actually made.

Gillette Building

The application for the Gillette Building was for the demolition of several buildings on the site, and the refurbishment and extension of others for use as film studios, including the Grade II listed Gillette Building and Natwest Building. The application included the creation of a six storey employee car park to provide 413 parking spaces in total, along with 56 spaces for light goods vehicles, 8 motorcycle spaces and 254 cycle parking spaces.

The proposals were presented as being compliant with Hounslow's policies for Strategic Industrial Locations¹, and the report pack states that:

Overall, the proposal would deliver a heritage-led restoration of the site and would replace a number of poor-quality existing buildings and spaces with high-quality, versatile facilities fit for modern day film studio requirements.

The report pack indicated that 3,404 jobs could be created, with 1,430 expected to be for residents of Hounslow. The proposals received no objections from statutory consultees. TfL raised an objection to the application, which they summarised in a letter to Hounslow Council. In this letter, they outlined a series of concerns, including concerns about the use of the Syon Lane access as the main entrance for the site, a lack of pedestrian and cycle safety measures beyond the site boundary, a lack of clarity over the proposed car parking charges, and the methodology used for trip prediction. They also raised serious concerns about the quality of the highway modelling assessment. TfL concluded that:

as yet the impact of this development are not acceptable and will create significant harm to the operations of the strategic road network, and does not adequately promote sustainable development as required by NPPF Chapter 9 and London Plan policies T4 and T6.2

The developers had offered to submit more complex transport modelling once development had commenced or before occupation.

The application would have resulted in a net uplift of 16,197 square meters of floorspace on the site, taking the total to 68,689 square meters. The report pack stated that the proposals would yield a Biodiversity Net Gain of 28.47% in Area Habitat Units and 120.26% in Hedgrow Units, and an Urban Greening Factor² score of 4.8% versus the baseline of 1.3%. The report pack also set out the developer's plan to achieve a 72% reduction in carbon emissions on the site.

Manderson House

The application for Manderson House on Commerce Road was for the variation of several conditions of an existing planning permission for a mixed-use scheme of 111 homes.

The proposed variations to the conditions would have allowed the previously approved scheme to comply with the Building Safety Act 2021 by incorporating a second staircase, would have expanded the permitted uses of the commercial floorspace, increased cycle parking provision, and increased refuse bin provision.

The developers had requested permission to alter the permitted use classes for the commercial floorspace from E(g)(ii) and E(g)(iii) to include B8 storage or distribution, which the report pack stated was to increase the flexibility of the commercial floorspace.

The report pack stated that the changes would have:

lead to good levels of occupancy, which would enhance the social welfare of residents and contribute positively to the area.

The report pack also included a viability assessment which showed that, due to the increased construction costs associated with the new fire safety measures and the limitations on the commercial floorspace, only a minimal number of affordable homes could be delivered on site. A contribution of £1,213,074 towards off-site affordable housing had been agreed. The scheme had originally been approved with 27% affordable housing, and the variations would have reduced this to 20%, all of which would have been for social rent.

Three letters of objection were received to the scheme, citing concerns about overdevelopment, reduced affordable housing and loss of daylight and sunlight for neighbours. Brentford Voice also objected to the reduction in affordable housing.

Charlton House

The application for Charlton House on Albany Road was for the variation of conditions of an existing planning permission for 209 100% affordable homes.

The proposed variations to the conditions would have allowed the previously approved scheme to comply with the Building Safety Act 2022 by incorporating a second staircase, and to achieve Passivhaus Classic accreditation³, a gold standard for energy efficiency in buildings.

The report pack stated that the changes were:

to allow the approved proposal to comply with the Building Safety Act 2022 and enhance health and safety and environmental considerations.

These changes would also have increased the number of homes from 209 to 211, reduced the overall floorspace of the building, changed the materials to be used, and made amendments to the public realm, amenity space and play space. The report pack included several visualisations of the proposed changes.

Two letters of response were received, one from The Gardens Trust, who did not object to the scheme, and one from a neighbouring property. The report pack stated that the changes would not impact the amenities of neighbouring properties.