We are very disappointed that the Deputy Mayor of London has given planning permission to the student hostel plans for the Travis Perkins site, despite the very strong opposition from residents and from your Hyde Park Labour Councillors.
The ‘Standard’ includes a report of the GLA meeting where Labour Councillors battled hard to stop the student hostel plans
We have opposed these unacceptable plans at every opportunity. Labour Councillors led the opposition to the latest plans earlier this year when Westminster City Council Planning Committee refused planning permission for the development.
At the GLA meeting on 25th November, Labour Councillors argued that the Deputy Mayor should refuse the planning application for two key reasons:
1) Height and Massing: In March 2022, the Planning Committee gave a clear indication that the building then proposed was much too high. And yet the taller of the two towers now proposed, which would stand directly opposite 21-27 Sheldon Square, is, as near as makes no difference, the same height as its already rejected predecessor.
2) Loss of Daylight and Sunlight: With the introduction of a gap between two separate blocks, the scale, height and mass will be such that the development will lead to devastating impacts on the amenities of residents within 7- 11 and 21-27 Sheldon Square in terms of loss of outlook, oppressive sense of enclosure and loss of daylight and sunlight, contrary to City Plan Policies 7, 38 and 41. There will be severe losses in daylight, particularly as a high proportion of the windows serve single aspect units which rely solely on these windows for light and outlook.
We are sorry that the Deputy Mayor did not consider these reasons sufficient to refuse the application, despite the overwhelming opposition from residents.
We have fought this unacceptable proposal for over 4 years. We were successful in getting Westminster City Council to refuse the proposals twice – in 2022 and early 2025 – and we are sorry we could not succeed a third time.
We can assure you that we will continue to fight hard on behalf of residents on every issue, as we have done so for the past four years.
Regards
Judith, Shamsed and Paul
Councillors Judith Southern, Md Shamsed Chowdhury and Paul Dimoldenberg
Your Hyde Park Ward Labour Councillors