We are supporting residents in Wallace Court and 38-47a Chapel Street who are objecting to proposals to demolish The Chapel and replace it with a 7-storey hotel.
This is our letter to the Council’s Planning Officer
48 Chapel Street, NW1 (20/06148/FULL and 20/06108/LBC)
We would like to raise concerns about the impact of the proposals to demolish the Chapel Public House and replace it with a seven-storey hotel on neighbouring residents.
As your report correctly points out, “the development will have negative impacts particularly on the amenity of the adjacent residents in Wallace Court”. Your report points out that, “a considerable number of these flats are single aspect and look out over the development site and will therefore be directly affected.”
Would it have been possible to adopt a different design approach that would have mitigated against these negative impacts? There is no indication in your report that the applicants were asked to consider an approach that would not have had such negative impacts on local residents.
In terms of the proposed use of the site, we can understand residents’ questioning the need for another hotel on Old Marylebone Road when there are two large hotels currently under construction just a matter of a few yards away. What demand analysis was presented by the applicants to justify a further hotel in this location? Surely the greater need is for more affordable homes?
It is also very disappointing that the opportunity to preserve what you describe as “the last remnant of early 1800’s development in the area” was not considered by the architects. The opportunity should have been taken to preserve some of the existing public house within the new development, not least to make it stand out from the bland corporate architecture that often characterises modern developments.
We hope that the Committee will take these points into consideration when determining the application.
Yours sincerely
Judith Southern, Md Shamsed Chowdhury and Paul Dimoldenberg
Hyde Park Ward Labour Action Team
