Wimbledon aparthotel project rejected by planners

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UK: Plans for a five-storey aparthotel in Morden Road, south Wimbledon have been refused at appeal.

Commercial property company Jones Granville originally tried to secure permission to build an eight-storey block with 31 serviced apartments and nine residential flats on the site of 34-40 Morden Road, demolishing a row of 19th century cottages.

This was rejected, and a revised application was submitted to build a five-storey aparthotel with 17 serviced apartments and nine residential flats. The second application was also rejected by Merton Council, prompting an appeal against the decision by Jones Granville.

But this month a planning inspector sided with the authority and upheld the refusal.

Although the planning inspector conceded the plans would not significantly impact the living conditions of neighbours, he argued the cottages, which date from 1820, have “some heritage value” and “some historic significance, resulting from their age, status as one of the oldest retained buildings in the area, and visibility”.

Cabinet member for environmental sustainability and regeneration, Councillor Andrew Judge, has been leading a campaign to have the cottages listed. He said: “This victory is brilliant news and the second time that this developer has lost an appeal on this site. No ‘aparthotel’, whether of eight storeys, five storeys or any other configuration, should be built on this site. Now, for the first time, the planning inspector has recognised the heritage value of our existing 1820 cottages, which any future development should improve, not demolish.”

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