Group urge rejection of new station plans (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Group urge rejection of new station plans

9:09am Monday 14th January 2008 in News By Chris Wickham

The group seeking to promote and protect the country's historic environment has joined calls for new plans for a controversial site opposite Hampton Court Palace to be rejected by planners.

Last year a proposal for a riverside hotel, refurbished station building, 61 apartments, five mews houses and a new care home for the Royal Star and Garter Homes charity was submitted for the area around Hampton Court Station, known as the Jolly Boatman site, which has been derelict for more than 20 years.

English Heritage has now thrown its weight behind opponents including the Hampton Court Rescue Campaign (HCRC), founded to fight off previous proposals for the site.

And it is supporting Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), the charitable body that runs Hampton Court Palace, with a letter to Elmbridge Council telling it to reject the plan.

English Heritage said the hotel would be entirely inappropriate to the location in terms of scale and bulk and the "introduction of such a substantially scaled structure onto a site which is current undeveloped will have a major, adverse impact upon the established character and appearance" of the area.

HRP have welcomed English Heritage's objections and a spokesperson said it underpins many of its thoughts, which were formally submitted to Elmbridge Council in December.

John Barnes, conservation and learning director at HRP, said: "We are delighted that English Heritage, the government body responsible for protecting our nation's heritage, has officially registered its objection to the planning application.

"They have expressed many of the same significant concerns that we have about the scheme, particularly about its impact on views to and from Hampton Court Palace, and the harmful development on the former Jolly Boatman site."