As we expected, Westbrook has appealed against Westminster City Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for their development plans at Dolphin Square and the decision of the Mayor of London to support the council and not call the scheme in for his own decision.
The appeal is due to be heard by public inquiry in London starting on 12th May and is expected to last 6-7 days. It is likely that the inquiry will take place at Westminster city hall and the public can attend and interested parties can make representations personally or through their legal advisors.
Objectors to the scheme have been invited to write to the Planning Inspectorate setting out their reasons which must be on planning grounds and must be submitted by the 2nd of March next.
The principal ground for Westbrook’s appeal is that the development is in the public interest through the increased housing provision, the refurbishment of the existing buildings, the affordable housing element, their claimed improvement of the listed gardens, a better leisure complex and improved local retail shopping facilities.
Westminster city council gave three reasons for refusal in their decision notice of 22nd July 2019 being:
1. The demolition of Rodney House and the proposed replacement building, along with the rooftop extension to the retained and refurbished houses ,would harm the appearance of the building and fail to maintain or improve the character of the Dolphin Square Conservation Area. The council stated that the public benefits would not outweigh the harm that the development would cause.
2. There would be insufficient family size units in the development and the development did not provide an appropriate mix of housing to retain families in Westminster.
3. The development would lead to an intensification of short-term let residential property (occupation for less than 90 consecutive nights) which is likely to negatively impact on the amenity of local residents.
We urge you to voice your opposition to these plans by writing to the Planning Inspectorate urgently setting out why you think this proposed development is against the public interest.
You can go directly to their planning portal using the short link:-
Otherwise you can write directly to the case office who is Helen Fisher. Her email address is helen.skinner@planninginspectorate gov.uk. The reference number for the appeal is 3245289.
Please continue to circulate this petition to your friends on social media like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and we are very grateful to all of you who have made generous financial contributions to promote this petition on change.org
Thank you!
team@savedolphinsquare