Mortlake (Stag) Brewery redevelopment

Update: Sept 2024

New inquiry date announced

The Public Inquiry will now be held in November and December 2024 – see details here‘.

Update: June 2024

Lack of planning inspector causes delay to inquiry

The appeal by the applicant, Reselton Properties, to the Secretary of State had been due to be heard at a Public Inquiry from May 29 – 11 June. However, the Inquiry has now been postponed due to the sudden unavailability of the Planning Inspector (see here). We understand that the planning inspectorate is looking to appoint a new inspector and is working with legal representatives of the parties involved (the developer, Richmond Council and the Mayor of London) to find a date to reconvene in October or November.

Update: Apr 2024

May date announced for planning inquiry

You may be aware that the revised planning application for the massive redevelopment of the Mortlake Brewery site was approved by Richmond Council’s planning committee on 31 January, subject to referral to the Mayor of London and to a legal agreement. The applicant, Reselton Properties, subsequently spoke to GLA officers who indicated that, if the application was referred to the Mayor, it would most likely be refused again (as it was at the Mayor’s hearing in July 2021). The applicant therefore decided to appeal direct to the Secretary of State for a decision, as a result of which there will be a Planning Inquiry held by the Planning Inspectorate from 29 May – 11 June.

The Kew Society is supporting the Mortlake Brewery Community Group which is leading the longstanding campaign against the proposed scheme. The campaign supports the principle of redeveloping this site but not in the overbearing and inappropriate manner currently proposed.

A comprehensive summary of the history and current status of the application can be  seen on MBCG’s website here. MBCG is now intending to appear as a ‘Rule 6 Party‘ as objector at the Inquiry, for which it is planning to engage specialist planning barristers and to enlist expert witnesses. MBCG are currently crowdfunding to fund this and have raised around 65% of a £40,000 target to date.

We encourage people to visit the crowdfunding page here and to consider making a contribution, of whatever size, for this very important local cause.

Update: Feb 2024

Revised Planning Application Approved

The planning application (planning reference 22/0900/OUT) for the revised redevelopment scheme was approved 8-1 at a Richmond Council planning committee meeting on 31 January.

The application had previously been approved at a planning committee meeting in July 2023 (see below), but later that month the Mayor announced that all buildings over 18 metres in height will need a second means of escape (see here). Revisions were therefore drawn up and the revised application was subject to further consultations before being submitted to the Council’s planning committee on 31 January.

A recording of the planning committee meeting, together with documents considered at the meeting as well as the minutes of the meeting, can be seen here.

The Kew Society was one of over 670 objectors to this scheme due to strong concerns over its scale, density and height, along with concerns about its impact on traffic levels and the surroundings.

The scheme has recently been covered in some detail on the BrentfordTW8 website – see here and here.The Mortlake Brewery Community Group’s web page can be seen here.

Update: July 2023

At the Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday 19 July, Richmond Council approved the revised Mortlake Brewery scheme. The scheme will now be referred to the Greater London Authority (Mayor Sadiq Khan) for its approval.  The Mayor rejected the previous scheme two years ago.  This revised scheme  provides for just over 1,000 homes (reduced from the previous 1250),   8% affordable; underground parking; a secondary school for 1200 pupils,  commercial uses and public open space with access to the river.  The Kew Society concerns were about air quality and traffic implications and we liaised with and supported local groups.  In due course, we will report again.