Developer reduces height of proposed Premier Inn by 50cm

PLANS for a five-storey hotel in the Henley station car park have been amended after concerns raised by town councillors and conservationists.

Blocwork has reduced the height of the proposed building by half a metre and made some changes to its appearance.

The hotel, which would be a Premier Inn with 115 rooms and a restaurant, would built on 1,360 sq m of the car park opposite the station entrance, next to the public toilets, which would be unaffected.

Blocwork, a partnership between the landowner Network Rail and developer Bloc Group, of London, applied for planning permission in December 2020.

Henley Town Council’s planning committee recommended the application be refused, saying the hotel would be too big and out of keeping with its surroundings.

The Henley Society, a conservation group, said the hotel would remove parking spaces at a time when demand was likely to increase and that the design wasn’t suitable for its historic surroundings.

Blocwork’s amendments to its plans include:

• A 0.5m reduction in the height of the hotel.

• A change in use of materials with greater emphasis on “traditional brickwork”.

• Additional landscaping and planting with planters to enable “green walls”.

• A bigger pavement in front of the hotel.

The company says: “Although it is not feasible to drop a full storey from the building and introduce pitched roofs, we have reduced the overall height of the building slightly to help address concerns.

“We have reconsidered the palette of materials and how they are applied to the building.

“It is noted that both urban design and conservation officers were uncertain of the appropriateness of the previously proposed aluminium panel stair tower treatment and also the scale of the grey ‘plank’ cladding.

“We have now proposed a more unified palette of materials with greater emphasis on the use of traditional brickwork and substituting the grey ‘plank’ cladding with a more traditional seamed metal cladding.

“A suggestion was also made to consider introducing a ‘green wall’ treatment to this end elevation.

“Unfortunately, a full ‘living wall’ treatment is not possible due to the proximity of this elevation to the site.

“Instead we have created greater visual interest by the introduction of windows to make it less ‘blank’ and by introducing a more textured brickwork treatment at ground floor level comprising a ‘roman’-type brick and, where it is possible to provide a planter below, tension wire trellising to create areas of climbing ‘green wall’ to the front and rear elevations.”

The company has proposed having “islands” between parking bays, saying: “While we cannot allow parking numbers to drop and simply remove the provision in front of the hotel, we have carefully considered the design of these bays and introduced planting ‘islands’ at intervals between the bays.”

This would allow four trees to be planted along the front of the hotel, which would have “a significant impact”.

The company has also proposed reducing the size of its bin store to create more room for planting.

A report by Bob Edwards, of consultants Forum Heritage Services, says the site is outside the designated conservation area so this would have no impact on it.

He writes: “It is considered that the proposed development will preserve the important aspects of the setting of the grade II listed Imperial Hotel and associated buildings, primarily the relationship with the station and the townscape of this part of the town. The proposed hotel is a building of modern design and as such will reflect the modern character as established by the modern blocks on the east side of the railway line.”

There will be a public consultation on the amended plans before a decision is made by South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority.

Councillor Michelle Thomas, who chairs the town council’s planning committee, said: “I think we should get Blocwork and Premier Inn to speak to councillors again as they haven’t addressed any of our concerns.

“The first one is the bulk and size of the building. They haven’t respected the hierarchy of buildings in the area. The listed buildings and the conservation area take priority in planning.

“The number of rooms is excessive for a market town and we’re also concerned about the loss of privacy for residents in Wyndale Close.

“Premier Inn have actually done some really good designs in other places where there are conservation areas and listed buildings, such as Westfield in Oxford. I don’t know why they haven’t done the same for Henley.”

Geoff Luckett, who chairs the Henley Society, said: “It’s not enough to change our minds. I don’t think it has gone far enough. 

“I’ve just sent out a survey to found out what the rest of our members think but [previously] they didn’t want the hotel at any price. ”