Last Minute Appeal Attempting to Save Burlington Lane Plan
Old Chiswick Protection Society says it is ready for continued legal battle
A visualisation from the developer of the building as seen from Hogarth Roundabout
October 13, 2026
Hopes that a recent High Court ruling ended the prospect of a ten-storey building on Burlington Lane might have been premature.
The developer, Burlington Properties London Limited, has lodged a late application to the Court of Appeal seeking permission to challenge the judgment.
The Old Chiswick Protection Society (OCPS) has vowed to challenge the attempt to overturn the decision that quashed planning permission for a controversial 10-storey tower block beside the Hogarth Roundabout.
It is less than a month since Hounslow Council’s approval of the scheme was deemed unlawful because councillors had been given a misleading account of an alternative, smaller development for the site that already had planning permission. The council is not contesting High Court judgment.
The OCPS says the developer had previously assured the High Court in writing that it would not contest the order quashing the planning permission. The society says the subsequent application to appeal represents a reversal of that position. We have been unable to contact the developer for a response on this point.
The residents’ group were awarded a percentage of its costs relating to obtaining the Judicial Review of the scheme. Any reimbursement is now put on hold until a decision is made as to whether the appeal can proceed.
The proposed development comprises 132 flats in a 10-storey building. It attracted more than 1,000 public objections, with opponents arguing that its scale and massing would damage the character of the surrounding conservation area, which is the most historic part of Chiswick, and affect views from the River Thame. They also raised concerns about the building’s impact on the historic 15th-century St Nicholas Church, as well as the settings of Chiswick House and Hogarth’s House.
The High Court challenge was brought by the OCPS after Hounslow’s planning committee approved the scheme in August 2025. The legal dispute centred on how planning officers presented an existing, smaller scheme as a fallback option when councillors considered whether the benefits of the taller development justified its impact on the surrounding area. The smaller scheme had been approved on appeal by a government planning inspector in 2024, despite having previously been rejected by the council. The inspector had found its design to be of high quality and its living conditions acceptable.
However, the High Court found that council officers had repeatedly described the smaller development as offering poor-quality design and accommodation, giving councillors a misleading basis on which to compare the two proposals.
The judge ruled that the errors had not been adequately corrected during the planning committee meeting and that the council’s decision could not safely stand.
A visualisation from planning documents of how the building would look behind St. Nicholas Church
The latest application means the dispute is not yet over. The Court of Appeal is expected to take approximately four months to decide whether to grant the developer permission to appeal, according to the OCPS.
Graham Clifton, chair of the society, said, “We don’t know what changed their minds. Perhaps it’s because the Labour councillors may lose their majority on the Council. Or perhaps it’s because the building trade is suffering at the moment, and the developer is using this appeal to buy time.”
He added, “What we do know is that OCPS will continue to vehemently challenge this development, which completely emasculates our local Conservation Area.”
The society said it remained determined to oppose the scheme, with Clifton describing Old Chiswick as one of the oldest conservation areas in England.
“Although this last-minute appeal is disappointing, we will be ready,” he said. “Old Chiswick is one of the oldest Conservation Areas in England, and we will protect it.”
The High Court judgment did not determine whether a 10-storey building would be appropriate for the site in principle. Instead, it concerned the lawfulness of the council’s decision-making process.
The quashing of the original planning permission means the taller scheme cannot proceed on the basis of that decision. The developer’s application to the Court of Appeal now introduces a further legal stage before the future of the proposed development becomes clearer.
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