Members of the West Acton Residents' Association (WARA) are concerned councillors are entering a planning committee meeting with a prejudiced view of an application.

On Wednesday (June 3), Ealing Council's planning committee are set to take a vote as to the fate of a site, at the junction of Horn lane and Western Avenue, being turned into a six-storey 100-bedroom hotel and two residential blocks of three, four and six-storey flats.

Demonstrators took to Park View, and along the A40, in protest against the application on the day of a site visit by councillors on Saturday (May 30).

Members of WARA have claimed that several councillors were not impressed by their shouting and chanting, although the former say they are within their rights to demonstrate.

Residents also said that numerous councillors objected to being filmed or photographed, which again WARA members disagree with.

In a letter sent to the chair of the Ealing Planning Committee, WARA's Jonathan Notley and Sheela Selvajothy said: "It is common at demonstrations for people to make noise by shouting and chanting slogans and ours was no exception.

"Clearly the residents were not going to stand there in silence and chants such as 'no flats, no hotel' are perfectly reasonable under the circumstances.

"It has come to our attention that a small minority of demonstrators may have been rude to some of the councillors. If this took place, we apologise unreservedly for this on their behalf.

"Several councillors expressed the opinion that the shouting by the demonstrators was not helpful to our cause.

"We need to have those remarks clarified. Do they mean the councillors concerned will enter the meeting with a prejudiced view of the application? If this is likely to be the case, then we need this application to be deferred and a whole new planning committee to be constituted.

"If it is unlikely that an unbiased planning committee can be assembled then we would recommend the matter is referred immediately to a public inquiry run by the Planning Inspectorate."

'Them vs us attitude'

An Ealing Council spokesman said: “The planning committee has a cross-party quasi-judicial role that sits alongside the council.

"Members of the planning committee consider all planning applications on their own merit and follow strict planning laws to assess each application. They are well used to listening to the concerns of residents, no matter how strongly they are expressed, but councillors are not biased by them."

Speaking about Saturday's site visit, Mr Notley Notley added: "Just when you think there can't be any more farces.

"Frustrated residents were saying 'look at the traffic' and the councillors were not looking.

"The whole point of a demonstration is to show the strength of feeling.

"It comes down to a 'them' and 'us' attitude, and it should not be like that.

"They did not want to be filmed and did not want pictures taken.

"They are public office holders and have got no expectation of privacy when they are out doing their job. They love photo opportunities when they are dressed up at the town hall but when they are put under scrutiny they don't like it."

The application has previously been put on the council's planning meeting agenda and deferred twice so more information could be gathered.