Residents stage protest against station hotel plan

RESIDENTS are campaigning against the prospect of a five-storey hotel next door to them.

Blocwork wants to build a 115-bed Premier Inn on part of the Henley station car park.

The application was turned down by South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority, in August but the developer has now appealed. A hearing will take place in May.

People living in Wyndale Close, which backs on to the station, are upset by the prospect of a large hotel looming over them.

They are concerned about noise, their privacy and the prospect of drivers displaced from the car park using their street instead.

On Sunday, a group of residents and their supporters protested at the car park, holding up a banner which read: “Say no to the high rise Premier Inn.”

They have also been delivering leaflets around the town urging people to file an objection by the end of Wednesday, which is the deadline for submissions to be considered by the appeal inspector.

Blocwork, a partnership between landowner Network Rail and developer Bloc Group, of London, first announced the plans in December 2020.

The development would comprise a 115-bedroom hotel covering 1,360 sq m, so 50 of the 249 car parking spaces would be lost, although 12 would be created by removing the coach drop-off point.

Blocwork says the hotel would boost spending in the town’s shops and “maximise value from underused property assets next to the railway”.

Joanna Goddard, who has lived in the street for about 20 years, said her house would be directly behind the hotel, which would block her light and invade her privacy.

She said: “I don’t have a great view but I get light and space, which I’d lose.”

She said all the residents had objected to the application and when the developer appealed, they decided to start a protest campaign.

“We were absolutely fed up,” she said. “So many people are going to be affected by this, not just Wyndale Close, but Upton Close, the Mill Meadows flats, so many residents.

“We are very anti the possible noise, the possible smells. There would be air conditioning units and bins at the back of the hotel, near us.

“The parking would affect our little road and be a huge issue. We live on a private road and people are sometimes naughty and park here at the moment when they shouldn’t. We worry that would increase. The developer says that customers would be able to use the Twyford station car park but that is bonkers. Twyford is a nightmare to park in anyway.

“It would affect restaurants and bars too — they don’t want competition.”

Ms Goddard said the hotel would also need to have a much more sympathetic design in order to win her approval.

She said: “Three storeys would be just about acceptable but you would still get the noise and parking
problems.

“I feel stressed and totally powerless. It’s a horrible feeling. I am worried about my privacy, having windows looking into my house and garden, and also my safety. If people are up to high jinks at 1am, they might try to get into my garden.

“My worry is that Premier Inn is so huge and can throw money at this. In comparison, we are a very small group.”

Gill Dodds, a former mayor of Henley and leader of Henley Residents Group, moved to Wyndale Close in October and became involved in the protest.

She said: “It’s the height that’s such a problem. Talking to people, many aren’t against a hotel per se, but they are against a five-storey, 115-bed one. There would be 45 staff members coming and going and around 115 cars needing somewhere to park. The coach parking would be removed, so where would the coaches go?

“The company makes the case that the parking spaces are never used and took a photo during lockdown on a Sunday.

“But the car park is almost full on a Monday morning, which shows you just how popular it is and we would be losing 50 of those spaces.

“Premier Inn has a 115-bed model which it plonks all over the country and that works for them, so for them to scale it down to half their economic financial model wouldn’t work.

“I was leafleting yesterday and a girl asked me: ‘What would the hotel do to all the Airbnb accommodation in the town?’

“The company talks about helping the economy of the town but actually there is an awful lot of people who do Airbnbs and host people during regatta and it would hit them.

“Another issue is flooding. We are right on the edge of the floodplain and they haven’t made a great deal out of it.

“With climate change and changing weather patterns it could be a big issue. It was flooded along the riverside only a few years ago. The drainage can’t cope now and presumably they would have to plug into that old drainage. It wouldn’t cope and it would go in the river.”

The campaigners have printed 5,000 leaflets and delivered them to homes in St Mark’s Road, St Andrew’s Road and Reading Road as well as other smaller roads.

Mrs Dodds said: “We are asking people to write to the inspector and lodge their objections. There is a barcode they can scan that will take them directly to the website.

“There have been more than 600 objections already and I have come across only one person so far who was in favour. I think the leaflets are really raising the profile.

“With all these things, if you can make a fuss and the company realises that the locals don’t like it, these big organisations do not like that.

“So they need to know what our feelings are. We are telling the town that we’re making a fuss and we hope as many people as possible will come to the appeal hearing.

“Premier Inn are not concerned about our health and wellbeing or quality of life. It’s all about money. If we make enough fuss, hopefully they’ll go away.”

Among those who joined Sunday’s protest were town and district councillor Stefan Gawrysiak and Geoff Luckett, chairman of the Henley Society.

Mr Luckett said: “I expected the appeal. The society has put together a presentation for the inspector. One of the biggest things is the increase in traffic and the difficulties with parking.

“People want more people to come to Henley to use the shops and restaurants but they won’t if they can’t park anywhere.

“A lot of hotel guests would come by car and you have about 45 members of staff who would drive in and need somewhere to park.

“Premier Inn appear not to source anything locally so all the produce, food for the restaurant and stock would come by truck, which would contribute to increased traffic and pollution, the very things we are trying to reduce in Henley.”

In rejecting the application, the district council said the design of the building would not be in keeping with the area or aesthetically pleasing, in particular the “visual bulk, massing, scale, roof form, height and materials”.

The developer has requested an informal appeal hearing to respond “by way of evidence and technical specialists”.

To comment on the application, visit https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk before Thursday.

The hearing will take place at Henley Rugby Club in Marlow Road on May 10 at 10am.

• What do you think? Write to: Letters, Henley Standard, Caxton House, 1 Station Road, Henley or email letters@henleystandard.co.uk