Fans in Canada and the US watch as South London plans to turn David Bowie's childhood home into a tourist site

Plans to convert David Bowie's former Bromley house into a visitor attraction have sparked a furious row among local residents, a dispute that could draw thousands of fans from Canada and the United States each year.

Heritage of London Trust proposal

Neighbours are fighting plans to restore the singer's childhood home in London and turn it into a tourist attraction.

People living near the Ziggy Stardust singer's house in Bromley, where the British music icon lived from age 8 to 20, say their quiet area will be "invaded" by hordes of his fans.

The Heritage of London Trust (HOLT) has submitted a planning application to Bromley Council to restore the two‑storey terraced house to its 1960s appearance and build a visitor centre in the garden, attracting an expected 20,000 visitors a year.

Bowie's music remains hugely popular in Canada and the United States, where his concerts still draw large crowds. Heritage sites linked to iconic musicians in both countries, such as the Elvis Presley Birthplace, attract tens of thousands of tourists each year. Canadian and American fans often travel abroad for music pilgrimages, making the projected visitor numbers a realistic concern for local traffic.

But concerns about parking, an entrance currently taken up by a pub's bins, 45‑person late‑night events and a three‑metre tall visitor centre in a small suburban garden have all been raised by neighbours as they battle the plans.

The immediate neighbour to the former Bowie address, 4 Plaistow Grove, said she had felt "sick" since the announcement of the Bowie House project earlier this year.

Ruth Dickie stated: "I am having my right to my home taken away from me."

HOLT said the Bowie House would provide fans with an "immersive experience" exploring his childhood home. The small 14 sqm visitor centre would contain a shop and a screening room.

The restoration process would use "surviving photographs, analysis of original decoration, recollections of visitors from the past and original items from the house" to bring it back to how it would have looked when Bowie lived there.

Neighbour objections

A HOLT spokesperson said: "Celebrating the role South London played in the early life of David Bowie, one of the UK's most successful musical artists, is at the heart of our proposals for 4 Plaistow Grove.

"We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to bring his house to life again and create an inspirational visitor experience which will bring value to the area and which local people can be proud of. We have had a brilliant response to the project and look forward to continuing to work with local residents as we develop the project."

The current plans would see the house open six days a week in the summer and five in the winter, opening at 10 am and closing at 6 pm in summer and 5 pm in winter.

Chair of Plaistow Grove Residents Association, Julie Davies, said: "The safeguarding of this Grove is threatened completely by the number of people who are strangers to this place who are going to come and invade it."

The 3.06 m‑tall visitor centre would be located right next to her garden fence. She fears the peaceful nature of her domestic life will be compromised once 20,000 people visit the house she shares a wall with every year.

The Crown pub's landlady called the proposal "horrendous" and said HOLT had not contacted her until this month, after she let them know she intended to object to the planning application.

Parking is also a concern, although HOLT said visitors will be directed to park in the nearby Sundridge Park Village Car Park just three minutes' walk away. Sundridge Park Railway Station is two minutes' walk from the Bowie House.

HOLT said it expected most visitors to come from outside of South East England "with a high proportion visiting a number of London sites as tourists" who would be using public transport to visit the Bowie House.

Since the planning application was submitted to Bromley Council two months ago, it has received 58 objections and seven letters of support. The council is scheduled to make a decision on the scheme in late September.