Controversial hotel approved for Oxford
Suzanne Lovell
Contentious plans for a 180-room hotel, six maisonettes and four retail units in Oxford have been approved by the city council.
The mixed-use scheme submitted by GHSR LLP and easyHotel for the retail units allowing classes A1 to A4, which would include shops, financial and professional services, restaurants, cafes and drinking establishments, with the hotel and maisonettes on the three floors above.
It will involve the demolition of existing retail, office and residential buildings.
Councillors at Oxford City Council's west area planning committee approved the plans on Tuesday, October 9.
The development at 276 – 292 Banbury Road in Summertown, attracted more than 400 objections including from nearby Summerfields School. The scheme had already been revised to meet some of the concerns.
Traffic, parking and noise were the main causes for objecting but James Kirk, operations director at the school, said: “The school is critically concerned about the safeguarding of pupils due to the proximity and oversight of the hotel. Oxford City Council must appreciate these concerns a major safeguarding risk.”
But in report published after the meeting the council stated: “In reaching its decision, the committee considered all the information put before it.
“The committee acknowledged the concerns of the local residents about the suitability of the development and its impact on the local area and balanced those comments against the advice of officers that the application was policy compliant.”
Source: Thames Valley Property No 135 (tvproperty.co.uk)
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