A 27-storey tower in Hounslow has been recommended for approval, despite council planners admitting some surrounding homes would fall under the development's shadow.
The residential tower is at the heart of proposals for 527 new homes, plus a cinema, shops and restaurants just off Hounslow High Street.
The development, opposite Asda in Prince Regent Road, is due to go before members of Hounslow Council 's planning committee next Thursday (November 5).
It has been recommended by council planning officers for approval. They say in their report for councillors that the scheme would help create an "active evening economy", which they claim is currently lacking from the town centre.
They argue that the "wider benefits" of the scheme would outweigh the loss of sunlight for some neighbouring homes.
'Errors in developers' application repeated by council planning officers '
Hounslow Central Residents' Association (HCRA) declared itself "most disappointed" with the officers' report on the plans for what is known as 'Key Site 1'.
It claims sizeable chunks of the report - including those with factual errors - have been taken almost verbatim from the application by developers Barratt London and Wilson Bowden.
"Section 4.3 of the officers' report is substantially the same as section 6.9 of the applicants' Design and Access Statement, even repeating the bizarre statement that the development will be "dissected" (rather than "bisected") by pedestrian routes," the group's president Trevor Timpson said.
"In repeating the applicants' claim that the severe loss of light to nearby residential buildings should be accepted, the officers' report several times mentions 'Alexandra Court'.
"But Alexandra Court is in Lampton Road, opposite the Civic Centre. They probably meant Alexandra Place, which will indeed be severely affected by loss of light...
"It also reproduces the claim that the requirement of the Masterplan (Hounslow Town Centre Masterplan, produced by the council) that development on the site respond to the neighbouring low-rise residential buildings is somehow met by building two-storey maisonettes along Alexandra Road - without mentioning that these maisonettes have eight storeys of flats above them."
The 27-storey tower is considerably taller than the maximum height of 4-12 storeys recommended in the council's blueprint for the area
The proposed development includes a 10-screen cinema and 10,000sqm of shops, restaurants and cafés, along with a new public square. Of the 527 new homes, 41% would be 'affordable'.
Although there will be a reduction in public parking spaces at the site, council officers say other town centre car parks are currently under-capacity and there are good public transport links.
The 27-storey tower is considerably taller than the maximum height of 4-12 storeys recommended in the council's blueprint for the area, but council officers say the scheme "generally follows the principles set out in the Masterplan".
Should councillors approve the scheme next week, it would still have to go before London mayor Boris Johnson.
Planning officers at the Greater London Authority said in their initial assessment earlier this year that the application failed to comply with the mayor's London Plan.
But council planning officers said they were confident "residual concerns" could be overcome and the mayor's permission secured if guarantees are provided over the tower's external finish.
