Work has been planned for the Small Mansion and the East Stable block, and the applications for planning permission and listed building consent are with L B Hounslow’s Planning Department.

Here is the outline of the works to the Small Mansion:
Repair of the structure and external fabric, including renewal of roof finishes and roof lights; repairs to external masonry walls and render finishes; taking down and rebuilding the rendered masonry parapet to reflect archive records; provision of new cast-iron downpipes; and replacement of the Conservatory modern external wall and glazed roof.
P/2020/4441 is the number for the application

Here is the outline of the works to the East Stables:
Stabilisation works to the East Stables building to include removal and replacement of the modern roof structure to improve headroom to the internal accommodation and improved structural integrity. External masonry and render repairs and provision of new windows and doors.
P/2021/0093 is the number for the full planning application

As you can see, they are for the sort of necessary preparatory work that will get the buildings into a decent condition before major decisions are made about how they will be used, who will use them, and what substantial alterations might need to be made for their use. Those stages will require planning applications of their own – but they are a long way down the track, because the major funding bodies are frantically putting sticking plasters over organisations which have received money recently and – if they fold – all the investment will be wasted. The money for these works was secured from Historic England and the Highways Agency a while ago, so they are covered.

If you have the time and you are prepared to go onto the LBH planning webpages, find “search planning applications”, use the application numbers and open the “related documents” pages for both of them, you will be well rewarded.

The architect, David Cattell, who is leading these works, is one of the most experienced conservation architects in the UK. The documents as a whole are a model of what a proper planning application should look like. The measured drawings are immaculate. The amount of thought and care which has gone into this is very impressive. The details which show such things as the process of deciding about rainwater heads, parapet repair, drainpipes and all the bits of a building we are lucky enough to take for granted, is astonishing.

If you want the quick way into the material, find the Design and Access Statements – they are the key documents.

After the shambles of the planning applications for the installation of car parking charging signs and equipment, and the conversion of the Bowls Club pavilion into a café/restaurant (neither of which are yet resolved) it is good to see plans of the quality that Gunnersbury deserves.

James Wisdom
6th February 2021