PLANS to build a 56-bed hotel in a "very depressed" part of Southampton have been thrown out.

The city council has rejected an outline application to transform part of Princes Street, Northam, by redeveloping a site currently occupied by an two-storey office block.

The council said the applicant was proposing to provide just two parking spaces for hotel guests and staff.

It also claimed the flood risk that existed in the area, which borders the River Itchen, would pose a potential danger to people using the building.

The City of Southampton Society lodged an objection to the scheme.

 

Plans to replace an office block with a 56-bed hotel have been rejected by Southampton City Council.

Plans to replace an office block with a 56-bed hotel have been rejected by Southampton City Council.

 

In a letter to the council it said: "The area is very depressed with only one shop not boarded up on the local housing estate.

"The proposed hotel is sited on the corner of a feeder road to one of the main access routes to the city from the east.

"Not only is the road busy during the morning and evening rush hours it's used by heavy cement and gravel vehicles serving the depots along this stretch of the Itchen. The site is also bounded by two scrap metal yards.

"These are very noisy operations.

"Although the application states that the businesses do not operate during the night hours, not everyone staying at a hotel requires peace and silence only during the night."

The letter added: "A hotel with only two parking spaces for 56 bedrooms will inevitably lead to on-street parking, which will be highly dangerous on this busy road."

A council report also referred to the shortage of parking spaces, plus the risk of flooding.

"The council is planning to deliver flood defences in the long term in this location. The scheme is currently in outline design and has not received planning permission. As such, there is still a very long way to go, with defences not likely to be completed until 2028 at the earliest," it said.

"The council considers the high flood risk would adversely impact the safety of future guests and staff."

The application said the five-storey building, with two commercial units on the ground floor, would be "suited to the area".

It added: "This type of budget hotel is common place on the edges of cities across the UK and helps to bolster local services and industry."

Addressing the flooding issue the application said the site was in the "less vulnerable category".