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After ten years of delays and repeated assurances that proposals were “imminent”, a planning application has now been published for the former Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) site and the adjoining St Martin’s Approach car park.
The scheme effectively swaps the use of the two areas. A terrace of six new family houses is proposed on part of the existing St Martin’s Approach public car park, continuing the established building line of the road. The land formerly occupied by the CAB building, demolished in 2018, would instead be laid out as additional public car parking.
The housing element comprises six identical terraced houses, each a four-bedroom, seven-person family home. The buildings would be 2.5 storeys high, with accommodation in the roof space, reflecting the height of neighbouring properties along St Martin’s Approach. Each house would have a small front garden, a rear garden and one allocated parking space.
Site plan showing the hut to the left, houses along St Martin’s Approach, and the revised carpark
Earlier concerns that the Manor Farm Community Hut might be lost appear not to be borne out by the submitted plans. The Design and Access Statement explicitly states: “Existing Manor Farm Community Hut to be retained” (page 28).
The hut is also shown as remaining on the proposed layout drawings, where it is labelled “Retained Community Hut” (page 37).
Proposed view from St Martin’s Approach – we understand both car ownership and high heeled boots are optional
Public parking provision would change significantly. The application states that St Martin’s Approach car park currently has 119 marked spaces, but argues that 35–36 of these are “substandard” and cannot be used when the car park is full. On this basis, the proposal would reduce the total number of marked spaces to around 80–81, which the applicant claims represents an improvement in usable capacity rather than a loss. To help offset the reduction, the council also proposes re-lining the Winston Churchill Theatre car park, which is said to create five additional spaces without expanding that site.
Vehicle access to the car park would remain from St Martin’s Approach, although the entrance would be repositioned further south. No access is proposed from Eastcote Road. Existing pedestrian routes between St Martin’s Approach and Manor Farm are shown as being retained.
Proposed View from Eastcote Road: This computer-generated image shows the relationship between the War Memorial and the six new 2.5-storey houses intended for the current car park site
Two existing trees would be removed to accommodate the development, with the applicant proposing the planting of approximately thirteen new trees as mitigation.
The site lies within the Ruislip Conservation Area, immediately adjacent to Manor Farm, the War Memorial and several listed buildings.
Read more and responding to the public consultation
The planning documents are available on the LBH website under the application number 49461/APP/2025/3009.
Residents who wish to comment should note that objections must be made on planning grounds, such as the impact on the conservation area, the loss and redistribution of public parking, traffic implications, or the effect on the setting of nearby heritage assets.
If you’d like to share your views with the Ruislip Resident’s Association you can send a message via our form or email planning@ruislipresidents.org.uk
Front elevation of the perhaps bland proposed development
Time Window for comments
The plans are shown as having been received at the end of November 2025, and validated at the start of December, but went live on the LBH website only today, 2nd January 2026. Ruislip Residents’ Association will review the documents over the coming days, and will respond to the council’s call for public comments before the close of the comments window on 23rd January. The LBH website currently shows a decision date of 26th January, which would be an impressive turnaround.
NOTE – THE TIME LINE FOR RECEIPT OF COMMENTS IS NOW 4th FEBRUARY
Errors in the documents on first reading
We note that there are some mistakes in the documents, not least some factual errors:
- it “does not sit within any Conservation Area” (it most certainly is in the Ruislip Village Conservation Area),
- the description of the site as being “located in Pinner” (er, no), and
- that it is “currently occupied by 16 studio bungalows” (it’s a derelict site and carpark)
None of those things are true of course, and it is strange that plans so long in the making would have such errors in them. They are perhaps AI-generated hallucinations which could have been picked up with more careful proofreading before submission. We will look over the other documents and update the RRA website and mailing list as we digest the information.
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