NEIGHBOURS in East Sheen will be hoping it is a case of three strikes and out, as a housing developer prepares to submit its third application to build in their leafy cul-de-sac.
Grayswood Properties wants to demolish a house in Avenue Gardens and build five flats, four houses and an underground car park on the land.
Richmond Council planning officers sided with the residents in July 2008 and refused permission for the development.
A year earlier, Grayswood withdrew its application after a backlash from those living nearby. The latest application was lodged this spring and will go before the council's planning committee on Thursday.
The neighbours formed SOS Avenue Gardens, and have organised a series of unusual protests over the past three years.
Their demonstrations against the plan include posing as statues wearing nothing but paint and roses and laying turf on the road to turn it into a huge garden. They collected 2,009 signatures on a petition after the 2009 application was lodged.
Group chairman Amanda Wilson said the campaigners are determined to persuade the council to block the 'garden grab'.
"The planning committee meeting follows many months of hard work by residents," she added. "Grayswood Properties have recently made amendments to their planning scheme but these have not addressed the very real concerns of the community who will have to live with this ill-thought-out development.
"We will be representing ourselves strongly on Thursday evening. We welcome the opportunity to fin-ally lay to rest this unworkable, flawed and unsafe proposal."
The group's concerns are of overcrowding and increased traffic, as well as the loss of a garden.
Local politicians, including Richmond Park MP Susan Kramer and the area's Conservative parliamentary candidate Zac Goldsmith, support the campaign.
Grayswood Properties says the plot is an under-used urban area and its plans are in keeping with national guidelines.
The planning meeting, at York House, Twickenham, starts at 6.30pm.
