53 Victoria Road, a family house, can become Turkmenistan's embassy. Its Holland Park Avenue building has been cleared to become the embassy of Tajikistan.

A family house at 53 Victoria Road in Kensington can become the Embassy of Turkmenistan. The council’s Planning Applications Committee approved the change of use on Tuesday 20 October. (council recording of the meeting)

The embassy is moving from 131 Holland Park Avenue. A planning officer told the meeting that the council has just granted permission for that building to become the Embassy of Tajikistan. So two Central Asian missions are swapping places within the borough.

What was approved

The application is PP/26/03027. The house is a three-storey mid-terrace in the De Vere Conservation Area. The officers’ report sets out how the embassy will run:

  • 6 staff: four full time and two part time
  • 1 to 5 visitors a day for office and consular business
  • embassy hours 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday
  • consular section 9.30am to noon on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, closed on Wednesdays
  • a flagpole, the national emblem of Turkmenistan, two plaques and security cameras on the front

The embassy plans to apply separately for one diplomatic parking space. Officers noted there is a residents’ bay outside that could be converted. (officers’ report, section 4)

The Foreign Secretary has already consented to the house being treated as diplomatic premises, the report says. The move is being made with the support of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, according to the applicant.

Why a home could be lost

The council’s Local Plan protects family homes. Officers accepted the scheme conflicts with that policy. They said the conflict was outweighed because the street sits in an area the council has marked as suitable for embassies. The Embassy of Vietnam is at 12 Victoria Road.

The permission is personal to the Embassy of Turkmenistan. If the embassy ever leaves, a condition requires the whole building to go back to being a home. The embassy use would not pass to anyone else as offices.

Conditions also limit the opening hours and ban music audible outside. The embassy must submit plans for cycle storage.

What neighbours said

The council received 8 objections and no letters of support. They raised:

  • the loss of a family home and the quiet character of Victoria Road
  • more staff, visitors, deliveries and pressure on parking, near an existing School Street
  • security measures and the chance of demonstrations
  • the flagpole as visual clutter in the conservation area

Officers replied that protests are a matter for the police, not planning, and that diplomatic flags are already a feature of the area. The council’s transport officers raised no objection. (officers’ report, section 8)

At the meeting, one councillor asked whether other embassies on the road had caused problems. The officer said none had been raised by the case officer. The committee then voted to grant permission. (recording at the vote)

What it means for you

  • If you live on Victoria Road, expect a flag, plaques and cameras at number 53, and a small number of visitors on weekday mornings. The hours conditions are enforceable: report breaches to the council’s planning enforcement team.
  • If you need the Turkmen consulate, it will move from Holland Park Avenue to 53 Victoria Road, W8 5RH. No moving date has been published, so check with the embassy before you travel.
  • Holland Park Avenue keeps an embassy at number 131, under a new flag.

Other planning decisions in the borough are on our Kensington planning news page.