Plans for 'Hideous' Skyscraper on Magistrates Court Site Withdrawn
Application pulled before planning meeting after attracting over 100 objections
Controversial plans to build a “hideous” skyscraper on Hammersmith’s old criminal court house have been withdrawn.
Dominvs Group pulled its application for the four-star, 23-storey hotel hours before it was due to be voted on by Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s planning committee, on Tuesday, October 15.
If approved, it would have become Hammersmith’s tallest building, and boasted 850 hotel rooms, a rooftop garden, bar and restaurant.
But it would have meant demolishing West London Magistrates’ Court in Talgarth Road, built in 1990, and which closed in late 2017.
More than 100 people objected to the plans, with some saying the borough is already saturated with nearly 200 hotels.
There were also complaints that it would cause “overlooking” and a loss of privacy for residents in St Dunstan’s Road, and Biscay and Yeldham roads.
Chair of Margravine Gardens And St Dunstan’s Road Residents’ Association, Abel Hadden, said the company should now “re-think” the scheme.
At yesterday’s planning committee, he had planned to tell councillors: “We beg you not to allow these tall, hideous, out of place and uninspiring skyscraper blocks to be allowed to tower over our cherished neighbourhood.”
He said residents’ concerns included: “overlooking, loss of privacy, overshadowing, light pollution, traffic, microclimate and noise.”
And he said there are already 192 hotels listed on Google as being within a few miles of Hammersmith.
It also comes after planning permission was given for a 200-room hotel in Shepherd’s Bush Green in June this year, and after a 189-bed hotel was approved for Shepherd’s Bush Road in April.
On October 16, a Dominvs Group spokesperson suggested the company could submit a new planning application at a later date.
“We are continuing to work very closely with the local council and the community as we strive to bring new life to the site of the former Magistrates’ Court,” the spokesperson said.
“Dominvs Group take our responsibilities very seriously and have built and maintained our reputation by taking feedback on board during the planning process.”
Blueprints, illustrated above and below, show the development would have featured two main blocks, the first being 23-storeys tall and made of glass.
While the second block, with a brick exterior, would have been stepped so that its tallest level was 15-storeys, and its lowest level was six-storeys.
Objections were also received by the Hammersmith Society, West London College and Historic England.
You can see more details of the plans and the agenda for the planning committee meeting here.
Owen Sheppard, Local Democracy Reporter
October 18, 2019