Gove overrules planning inspector to approve West London mixed-use schemes

Michael Gove has overruled the planning inspectorate to approve two mixed-use schemes in west London which had been recommended for refusal following a public inquiry.

Patel Taylor’s 470-home Syon Gardens scheme and JTP’s 1670-home Osterley Place development were both called in by the secretary of state in November 2021.

The schemes, both designed for Berkeley subsidiary St Edwards, occupy two sites in Isleworth either side of the Great West Road.

An outline application for Osterley Place would replace a Tesco superstore with several buildings up to 17 storeys in height and up to 5,000sq m of commercial, community and retail space.

The Tesco would be moved to the Syon Gardens site, which would also contain buildings up to 17 storeys along with 200sq m of community space.

In a report published in September recommending refusal, the planning inspector had flagged concerns over the height of the proposed buildings at Syon Gardens and their impact on the surrounding mostly low-rise housing.

But Gove is said to have disagreed with the conclusion in a 298-page response published yesterday, in which he argued the scheme “would not appear excessively large in its context” and would create an “appropriate transition in scale” to the neighbouring residential areas.

Although the secretary of state admitted the scheme contained some “inactive frontages” and “unattractive” public realms around roughly half of its perimeter, he said this only carried moderate weight in planning terms.

Landscape architect Murdoch Wickham, energy consultant Hodkinson and transport consultant RHDHV are working on the Syon Gardens site. The project team for Osterley Place includes Buro Happold, WSP, Ramboll, Hodkinson, RHDHV and Kartar Consulting.