Planning method or madness

Myself and so many of my neighbours here in Olde Hanwell are still reeling from a decision last week by the Ealing Council Planning Committee, approving an application for what is known as Oak Wharf. This is to be a modern building comprising of four, three-story dwellings with 12 bedrooms, squashed into the heart of a Conservation Area. Residents of the surrounding cul-de-sac, beside the canalside and well-known Fox Pub, were universally opposed to the proposal and had generated masses of support. In the end there were six votes for and six against, and the Chair's vote in favour approved the application. This was in spite of 17 conditions from the Council and a further six from the Environment Agency who removed their objections by letter late the same afternoon - suspicious or what?
What caught my eye in the press soon after was a letter in Daily Telegraph from the Campaign to Protect Rural England, describing their new charter which has three demands: don't sacrifice the countryside; give a fair say to local communities; the country needs more affordable housing but this must be sensitively located. Each of these demands were ignored by Ealing Council. So a little corner of rural England, actually snuggled in not far from the busy Uxbridge Road but feeling like a million miles away, disappears for ever. It makes you want to weep.......