Work to restore deteriorating Gunnersbury Park could begin sooner than expected thanks to potential funding from Hounslow Council.

Gunnersbury Park has been a long-term concern for Hounlsow and Ealing councils, which jointly manage the park and buildings.

It was suggested by council-paid consultants last year that £39m would be needed to regenerate the park – and this money could only be raised by selling off a 5.6-acre stretch, running along Lionel Road North, to build homes.

But this week Councillor Gerald McGregor, the council’s lead member for finance, announced he was confident the council could cover some funding to start rebuilding the park and buildings and avoid further deterioration.

He said: “We’ve started to look to make some funding available for Gunnersbury Park. The budget panel is determined to provide more resources to the leisure services budget.

“With Gunnersbury Park, the amiable thing is to turn it into a project similar to that being developed at Chiswick House with all the organisation working together to have control of our heritage.”

Coun McGregor could not confirm the amount of funding available but said it would be subject to approval and further discussion with the council’s lead member for leisure, Councillor Rebecca Stewart.

The announcement follows a call from Ann Keen, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, for the council to produce a clear plan for the redevelopment of the park.

In a letter to Hounslow Council’s chief executive, Mrs Keen said: “The overwhelming consensus from residents has been that the sale and destruction of park land, albeit to fund park regeneration, is simply unacceptable.

“I therefore strongly urge you to produce plans for the park so I can reassure my constituents.”

Council leader Peter Thompson said: “If Mrs Keen truly wants to help Gunnersbury then I call on her to sit down with the borough’s elected councillors, offer wholehearted support to helping find a solution, and even at this late stage lobby for funding to be provided so that Gunnersbury Park is preserved and improved for future generations.”

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