Plans for Jolly Boatman site get the go ahead

Jan 2 2009 By Vicki Eltis

Plans for flats and a hotel

A controversial scheme for 66 flats, a 46-bed hotel and a care home close to Hampton Court Palace has been approved by Elmbridge councillors.

The development, on the site of the now-demolished Jolly Boatman pub, will see the flats, a hotel, a Royal Star and Garter care home, an underground car park, and a refurbished main line station in a classical Georgian design built on the four-acre site.

But opponents fear it will spoil the view of the historic palace, once home to King Henry VIII.

The scheme was discussed at an Extraordinary Meeting of the council on Thursday December 18, in which every Conservative member voted for the proposal.

Twenty-nine councillors voted in favour of the development, which is a joint application by developer Gladedale, Network Rail and the Star and Garter home, 24 voted against and five abstained.

John Barnes, conservation and learning director of Historic Royal Palaces, an independent charity that look after Hampton Court, said after the meeting: "We are deeply disappointed at the decision to approve the plans, which leaves a great many fundamental questions unanswered about the impact of the scheme on local infrastructure and the natural and historic environment.

"In our opinion, the council failed to give due weight to the impact the development will have on the setting of Hampton Court Palace and the River Thames."

The plans attracted 3,890 objections from residents, including Hampton Court Rescue Campaign (HCRC), which was set up to fight the plans.

Chairman of HCRC, Brian Rusbridge, said: "The development will be a disaster, but we will just have to wait and see what happens."

Paul Lemar, land an planning director for the Gladedale Group, said: "The scheme will greatly enhance the sense of arrival for those visiting Hampton Court Palace and will finally bring to an end the dereliction of a site that in 2003 was voted one of Britain’s worst wasted spaces."