Let me help clarify. Most private land has restricted uses through planning law and this is no exception. Planning Law quite rightly regulates what is allowed where. Otherwise people might put incinerators, phone masts, pig farms, open air discos or whatever in the most unsuitable places. It's a very strange idea that people should be able to put whatever they like on land they own. If there's anywhere that chaotic I'd hate to live there. The patch of private land in front of Verdict does not even allow parking as a Permitted Use in the relevant lease, so on that alone Verdict are not allowed to use it as a car park.But even if the lease allowed it, parking would still be banned. Planning Law overrides a lease. The original planning application for the Magistrates Court re-development describes the area in front of Verdict (which had many years ago been a little car park for the Magistrates Court) as "NEW LANDSCAPED AREA TO FRONT". That's in document P/2013/0423, part of the successful application by the developers. So they never even asked for parking to be allowed there. That land was in 2013 subject to two formal change of use planning decisions. Planning decision 00607/L/P2 of 3 April 2013 states that that piece of privately owned land was forthwith "Public realm (town square)". So yes, it has legally been our town square since 2013. Then 00607/L/P3 of 31 July 2013 decreed "Change of use from car park to public realm open space and upgrading of existing public realm works." All of that governs what is privately owned land but with very restricted possible uses. I believe all this was agreed amicably at the time. The developers who converted the Magistrates Court sensitively into ten flats and a retail unit readily swapped the usage rules for the area in front of Verdict (so Brentford could have a proper town square) for various other things, including the right of the residents to purchase residential CPZ permits. That keeps the town square in front free for everyone to enjoy safely - or will do once the dangerous parking has finally been stopped. Parking there is a serious hazard to children and elderly people using the town square and also it is impossible to park there without driving across Hounslow Highways pavements (not allowed under the Highways Act except in exceptional circumstances, eg emergency vehicles) and difficult without breaching the bollards placed on Hounslow Highways land specifically to prevent parking. I also wonder if anyone parking there and knowing about the planning prohibition against parking would even be insured in case of an injury or worse caused by them parking. I did hear rumours of something having gone wrong with the planning process but the relevant Planning Law seems utterly clear so the only problem seems to be planning infringements which got much worse recently. When someone put up illuminated signs in Market Square a while back without permission, Planning Enforcement quickly had them removed and I am am looking forward to a speedy resolution to this problem. Then maybe we can start to develop a real town square focal point for Brentford while the Ballymore project grinds on. The planters placed in the Market Square recently by Air Quality Brentford are a great step forward. There were lots of us working on it that day, including two of our councillors: thanks Katherine and Guy. Now we need to make our town square safe for people to walk, chat, watch the children play or whatever. All incompatible with car parking that is simply not allowed.
Eric Baker ● 1331d