Henley Railway Station Car, Station Road, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire , RG9 1AY

erection of hotel with a ground floor ancillary bar/restaurant. Reconfiguration of the existing station car park and associated works

Authority: South Oxfordshire District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: leisure-sport · Major retail and services
Inspector: Nicholls H

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal would constitute good design and its effects on the character and appearance of the streetscene and surrounding area
the effect on the respective settings of the Henley Conservation Area (CA) and the Grade II listed building, the 'Imperial Hotel and associated buildings' (List Entry Number 1404662) (the Imperial Hotel)

What decided it

The design and heritage harms to the streetscene, the Henley Conservation Area and the Grade II listed Imperial Hotel were not outweighed by the public benefits of the scheme.

the public benefits, though attracting great weight, did not outweigh the less than substantial heritage harm and the harm to the character and appearance of the area, such that the proposal conflicted with the development plan as a whole

Framework references: 202

Plan policies cited: Policy DES1, Policy DES2, Policy SD3, Policy STRAT1, Policy HEN1, Policy EMP11, Policy ENV6, Policy ENV7, Policy ENV8, Policy E2

Judgments cited: Wheatcroft Ltd V SSE [1982]

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

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