While I was not on the planning committee at the time of the decision I did attend the meeting where the decision was taken.My memory is that after a long period of discussion and consultation with the local community, planners and councillors, most of the objections to the scheme were met, and on the night there was an almost unique cross party consensus to give approval to the scheme.The hotel building was reduced in height from the original proposal, and the amount of space for employment was increased with these two changes helping to make the whole development acceptable to the members of the planning committee on the night. The fact that there are several unsightly abandoned industrial sites in this area has brought about a change in direction of policy. Allowing these ugly abandoned old buildings to become mixed residential/employments developments was seen as the best option to halt the decline of this area. The development does retain the best of the existing buildings and replaces a 60's office block with a tall hotel building. If you are opposed to high buildings then you will always be unhappy with this but it is not out of character with other tall buildings in the Great West Road.I noticed in the original message a reference to "local poor" people having to live somewhere, but I imagine the eventual users of a hotel in this area will not be necessarily poor. The jobs it will provide for hotel staff will probably be a mixture of wage levels so I suppose you will get some local residents of differing wage incomes working there. As far as the decision is concerned as I said there was a broad consensus on the night, but even if this had been refused it probably would have got approval on appeal as there were many positive aspects of the regeneration scheme that an inspector or the minister responsible might have eventually approved. The tall hotel would not have been grounds for refusal as the planning guidelines in force at the time did not indicate this kind of use as unacceptable.
Colin Ellar ● 6453d