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PPHE Lodge Group – which owns SE1's 4 current Park Plaza motels – purchased the empty plot of land on the junction of Westminster Bridge Highway and Kennington Highway for £12 million in 2019.
In July 2023 councillors on Lambeth's planning functions committee went towards their very own officers' suggestions and turned down PPHE's scheme for a 15-storey constructing – designed by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands – with 186 lodge bedrooms.
Councillors discovered that the lodge "can be a discordant addition to the townscape that will be dangerous to the prevailing native character, and would trigger a reasonable stage of lower than substantial hurt to the importance and particular curiosity of the grade II listed Lincoln Tower" and that one other lodge so near others would "trigger unacceptable hurt to the stability and mixture of native land makes use of".
After the developer appealed the choice, planning inspector David Prentis presided over a seven-day inquiry in Might this 12 months.
Mr Prentis's determination – permitting the attraction and granting planning permission – was printed by the Planning Inspectorate this week.
The inspector concluded that "the bottom, center flooring and crown would create a harmonious composition, articulating the mass of the constructing, activating the frontage at road stage and turning the nook between Westminster Bridge Highway and Hercules Highway".
Mr Prentis added: "I don’t assume that the proposal can be visually dominant, ugly or intrusive, nor would it not compete unduly with the Lincoln Tower."
He discovered that "With the attraction scheme in place, the spire would not be seen from Westminster Bridge. Nevertheless, as I don’t think about that this view provides materially to the flexibility to understand the importance of the listed constructing, that loss wouldn’t be dangerous in heritage phrases."
On the focus of customer lodging within the space, the inspector wrote: "The proposal would add 186 lodge rooms to the two,716 rooms for customer lodging already current within the research space.
"The council argued that the prevailing focus of motels is already inflicting hurt and that the extent of hurt can be elevated by the attraction scheme.
"The council’s concern is that retailers, cafes, eating places and different companies would adapt their provide to cater for vacationers, thereby diminishing the flexibility of residents to fulfill their wants throughout the native space."
The inspector discovered "no convincing proof earlier than the inquiry that the prevailing stage of customer lodging is having the results that the council is anxious about".
James Hatts
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Source : https://www.se1.news/pphe-lambeth-north-hotel-approved/
