Lambeth council’s planning committee last night agreed to defer consideration of plans to build a six-storey hotel in the centre of Brixton as residents near the planned development questioned claims about consultation on the project.
Chair Cllr Clair Wilcox told the committee that council officers had asked the committee to “have another look” at the application that was first discussed with the council in March 2015.
Rob O’Sullivan, head of development management in the council’s planning department, said that the council was “in receipt of late information” from Transport for London (TfL) – the body responsible for transport systems in greater London.
TfL was “raising some concerns” with the application, he said. Officers were asking that consideration of the application – which they are recommending be accepted – be deferred so that discussions could take place.
Officers did not think that there was enough information to present to members to allow them to make an informed decision on the application.
Cllr Wilcox thanked officers for recognising additional information was required, preventing the “very painful process” of considering an application and not being able to complete it – which “wastes everybody’s time”.
Brixtonblog’s previous story on the project drew attention to plans to allow coaches delivering guests to the hotel to park at bus stops on Briton Road.
Consultation
Local residents are becoming increasingly concerned about the planned development and reject claims made by the developers that there has been “an extensive period of pre-application discussions with officers and the community”.
An initial “consultation” exhibition on plans that have since been extensively revised lasted two and a half hours on a Saturday afternoon and was visited by 15 people.
Local residents question claims by the council that there was a later “consultation” of 14 days in May this year organised via letters to residents and interested organisations. They have already collected the names of 20 people living very close to the planned hotel who say they did not receive a letter about it.
Alan Culverhouse, owner of the SW9 bar that will be closed by the development and bar staff have begun to distribute their own flyers (right) to warn residents about the plans.
Despite the fact that planning permission has not been granted, work has already begun on a TfL cycle hire docking station outside the SW9.
The planning application says that it has been requested by “both TfL and Lambeth’s transport officers” and will be funded by an £80,000 contribution from the developers.
“TfL was “raising some concerns” with the application”. Interesting to know what those concerns are? Surely it can’t be related to the mention of coaches stopping at the bus stops on Brixton Road. Those stops are already crazy with numerous buses and huge crowds. TfL doesn’t seem too concerned over that daily fiasco now so why should a few extra vehicles make any difference? Not ideal all the same. What is ideal in Brixton is a dedicated bus station like at Vauxhall and Victoria.
Readers can only guess, at this stage, what those ‘concerns’ are all about.
Could it be that the Victoria Line runs straight under this proposed hotel build, on its way to Stockwell Station. Any hotel would require deep foundations. Could these affect the structure of the tunnel casing? Plus all that extra weight bearing down on 50 year old tunnels. Just a thought.
It was, indeed, the bus stops. That fact alone was not enough for a new post, but will be included in next story. One of the least of the worries about the development, I would have thought.
Thanks Alan, the bus stops would have been a pain as they are already overcrowded with passengers and buses backing up waiting for a space. Let alone a couch pulling in and hoards of people unpacking their luggage. One of the worries but as you state one of many.
– no space for taxis to drop off or pickup.
– no space to park for cars. That area is all CPZ.
– no space for deliveries apart from an already over used Nursery Road, with M&S and Superdrug already using that road.
– no emergency access as Dorrell Place, the road inbetween Superdrug and M&S is no traffic and blocked off with bollards and street lamps.
Then onto the build itself:
– right next to the railway track.
– poor views out of one side onto the roof of M&S and all the noisy air con units.
– a 6 storey build much higher than any of the other builds either side of it
– the impact this will have on the light to surrounding residential and business premises
– the build will dominate the immediate area
I have just read the print in the flyer above and see that it is being built on top of Superdrug!!!! The M&S building opposite was completed in 1931 and replaces an earlier structure. The building above Superdrug is even older – can it support a hotel build above it?