Blackfriars Road hotel: developer appeals against refusal

Endurance Land's proposal to build a new hotel in the car park at the rear of 160 Blackfriars Road was refused permission by Southwark's planning committee last October.

Councillors vetoed the scheme – in the face of strong recommendations from officers that permission should be granted – on the grounds that the hotel would lead to an over-dominance of visitor accommodation, that it represented overdevelopment of a constrained site and that the 10-storey block would be excessively tall.

After Mayor of London Sadiq Khan opted not to 'take over' the application himself, Endurance Land has now lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate.

The developer argues that the hotel would make better use of a brownfield car park site, would create new jobs and that extra visitors would spend millions of pounds in the local economy.

The case will now be in the hands of a planning inspector. A date for the planning inquiry – which will be held in public and could last several days – has not yet been set.

• The planning appeal reference is APP/A5840/W/18/3219188