Plans to build a 21-storey hotel in Stratford town centre have got the go-ahead from councillors despite neighbours’ concerns about overshadowing.
Hotel company Staycity wants to build the tower in Meridian Square, opposite Stratford Shopping Centre.
But people living in Legacy Tower, a 33-storey block of flats next door, warned that it could affect their daylight, outlook and privacy. Newham Council received 56 objections to the plans.
One objection summarised the objections in a haiku poem. It read: “Dark homes, colder lives/A thousand glances too close/Crowds invite them in.”
Councillors considered the plans at a strategic development committee meeting on 10 February.
Labour councillor Terence Paul, who represents Stratford, asked about the overshadowing concerns.
Quoting another resident’s objection, he said: “This will change living in the south-west side of Legacy Tower to a very open environment to a claustrophibic situation with little to no sunlight for most of the side of the building and a massive loss of light overall.”
Labour councillor Madeleine Sarley Pontin said that Legacy Tower residents’ sky views would be blocked.
She said: “If you moved to there and thought you had a lovely east-facing view, you’re not any longer are you? You’re going to have a lovely view of the side of a beautiful building.
“Unfortunately we know that sky view is not protected.”
The applicant’s surveyor Andrew Cartmell admitted that neighbours’ daylight would be reduced.
However, he said assessments had shown they would still receive “good” levels of daylight according to guidelines by the Building Research Establishment.
Cartmell said: “There will be a reduction from what they receive today. When you look at what they receive today, they do receive very high levels of daylight and sunlight.
“Yes, there will be a reduction, but they will still receive good levels of daylight.”
Chris Beard, from the applicant’s planning consultant DP9, said the new tower had been designed with a “serrated edge” so that windows didn’t look directly into Legacy Tower’s flats.
He said: “The angle of the windows is deliberate for the three rooms within the hotel on a typical floor to direct the view away from looking into Legacy Tower.”
Council planning officers recommended that committee members approve the development.
Their report to the committee said that flats in Legacy Tower would “retain a good level of daylight, above the recommended levels”.
They also said that the addition of privacy screens on windows and balconies in the new tower “addresses privacy and overlooking concerns”.
The committee agreed to approve the plans, with Labour councillors John Morris, Blossom Young and Rachel Tripp voting in favour.
Cllr Paul voted against, while fellow committee member Sarley Pontin was unable to vote as she had arrived late to the meeting.
