Kelly's Dance Studio - history not to be ignored.

Permission has been applied for to convert Kelly’s Dance Studio in Park Road into four residential flats.

The Hampton Wick Association draws attention to the failure of the application to give details of anything more than the recent history of 12 Park Road.

The building was opened in 1887 as The Assembly Rooms and as an amenity for the residents of Hampton Wick.

Our understanding is that the property was owned originally by the Hampton Wick Local Board and was relatively recently sold to the current owner by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (LBRuT). We believe that the building was used as a venue for dancing from its opening in 1887 and has been a dedicated dance studio since at least 1928. The main studio still retains many original features.

It is against this backdrop that the issues raised by this planning application should be assessed, including:
whether, as the applicant asserts, LBRuT was incorrect to determine that the current use of the premises is not within use class E(d);

• the general appropriateness of the proposed conversion of The Assembly Rooms into residential premises; and
• the applicant’s assertion that the proposed conversion of The Assembly Rooms “will respect the neighbours and reduce any conflicts that the dance studio may have had with the neighbours, such as noise and comings and goings”.

In deciding these issues, we urge LBRuT to take due account of the original purpose and history of The Assembly Rooms. We would add that we are unaware of “any conflicts that the dance studio may have had with the neighbours, such as noise and comings and goings” that the proposed conversion might reduce.