Proposed Development Threatens Museum
We have recently been advised of an application to erect a 5G telecoms mast more than fifty feet (16m) high very close to the Museum’s entrance in Green Dragon Lane. The application, which also includes a clutter of cabinets at the base of the mast, is on land which belongs to the Museum. However, if it is approved by Hounslow, the local planning authority, there will be considerable pressure on the Museum to agree to use of the land. This will be difficult to resist without significant expenditure, particularly since the applicant is claiming that the land has been adopted by Hounslow as highway.
The proposal is ill thought out and very damaging both to the Museum and the wider Kew Bridge Conservation Area. It will loom over the Museum’s nationally important listed buildings and the housing the other side of Green Dragon Lane. It will be visible in longer views from the River Thames which have been protected from development in the past; and it will set a precedent for the erection of other telecoms masts in the area. What is particularly annoying is that there are other sites which were considered by the applicant. These are much more suitable but have been rejected on very inadequate grounds. It is difficult to resist the conclusion that the applicants have chosen the site which is easiest to develop and service rather than the one that is least damaging to the historic environment.
The time for comments is very limited – they have to be received by Hounslow by Tuesday 25 January 2022. If you wish to look at the application in more detail or to comment on it this can be done through the following link:
https://planning.hounslow.gov.uk/planning_search.aspx
Then search for PA/2021/4885
We are extremely concerned about the implications of this proposal and would welcome any support in opposing it.
Update
We hare happy to share that the application to erect a telecoms mast close to the Museum’s Green Dragon Lane entrance had been refused. Thank you to everyone who supported us in opposing the application. We will continue to look out for future proposals.