A PLANNING inspector has thrown out an appeal from a developer to build 47 one-bedroom homes in the grounds of Grade I Listed Swakeleys House, Ickenham.  

The inspector took into account the case put forward by Hillingdon Council and neighbouring residents, including Ickenham Residents' Association, before dismissing the appeal from CES Properties.  

In February 2021, the developers submitted a prior approval application to convert Harrington House, a two-storey former office building in the grounds of Swakeleys House.  

It drew numerous letters of objection and more than 130 signatures across two petitions.

Hillingdon refused planning consent in April 2021 as it felt the prior approval process - which allows conversion of vacant offices to housing without full planning permission – could not apply to buildings within the curtilage of a listed building.  

The planning appeal was heard in November and was attended by concerned residents, with Ickenham RA stressing the importance of the house and its grounds.

Cllr Eddie Lavery, Cabinet Member for Residents' Services, said: "This is an excellent result for the people of Ickenham and the whole borough.  

“We thank residents for their invaluable and robust input, which has helped ensure the continued protection of this important part of the borough's history."  

Swakeleys House is a Jacobean manor house, built in 1638 for the future Lord Mayor of London, Sir Edmund Wright.

It was originally home to the lords of the manor of Swakeleys, while writer Samuel Pepys visited the house twice.

The grounds around Harrington House have an historical association with Swakeleys House and the role it played in World War Two, including holding the remains of concrete bases that held barrage balloons.  

In the mid-1980s, two office buildings, one of them Harrington House, were built on the site as development to create funding for the restoration of Swakeleys House following a period of decline.