Plans for hotel and offices at Cassiobury House approved

Watford Borough Council’s planning committee narrowly approved a proposal to redevelop Cassiobury House in Station Road, by Watford Junction, on Wednesday evening.

Tellon Capital received permission for a 13-storey hotel, along with an eight-storey office building on the site of the current five-storey Cassiobury House.

Wednesday’s meeting was not plain sailing for the applicants, with several councillors on the planning committee raising concerns about the visual impact the new hotel - believed to be a Premier Inn - and offices will have on neighbouring residential streets.

Myles Sinclair, who lives in Canterbury Road – behind Cassiobury House – spoke against the application on behalf of his neighbours and more than 100 people who signed a petition against the development.

Mr Sinclair described the size of the 13-storey building as "overwhelming" and "out of scale" next to Victorian houses that surround it.

He called for the committee to encourage a "more suitable development for the location and something more worthy for Watford".

A view of the development from Canterbury Road. Credit: Tellon Capital

Central Watford borough councillor Steve Bolton and county councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst also encouraged members to vote against the scheme, citing concerns about size, lighting, and noise.

Mr Sinclair's concerns did not go unnoticed – Liberal Democrat councillor Karen Collett, who is the Lib Dem deputy mayor of Watford, said the proposed scheme was not a "monstrosity" but said she saw Canterbury Road and Westland Road as family homes and said the hotel would "spoil the view of the character roads".

The leader of the Watford Labour Group, Cllr Nigel Bell, described Cassiobury House as a "tired" building but said of the proposed scheme "there is no question there would be an overwhelming effect on nearby homes".

Cassiobury House currently. Credit: Google Street View

Head of planning at Tellon Capital, Amy Jones, who described Cassiobury House as "tired and outdated" told members that she and her team held public consultations about the scheme and had amended their designs based on community feedback.

The council says Tellon also worked with officers in response to conclusions made by the council’s newly formed independent Place Shaping Panel, to improve the size of the proposal and reduce the potential impact on neighbours.

Cllr Stephen Johnson suggested the committee would be "shooting themselves in the foot" if they voted against the scheme because Tellon had gone away and met most of the recommendations made by the panel. He also argued the scheme was "policy compliant".

The scheme which has been approved. Credit: Tellon Capital

The application was passed by five votes to four.

For: Cllr Stephen Johnson (Lib), Cllr Jenny Pattinson (Lib) Cllr Iain Sharpe (Lib) Cllr Richard Smith (Lab) Cllr Peter Jeffree (Lib)

Against: Cllr Nigel Bell (Lab) Cllr Karen Collett (Lib) Cllr Favour Ezeifedi (Lab) Cllr Mark Watkin (Lib)