Householders fear they will have an “enormous monstrosity of a building” on their doorstep, and will struggle to park their cars if new hotel accommodation goes ahead.
An application submitted by an agent to demolish hotel accommodation and create new detached villa accommodation, alongside the remodelling of the hotel’s front porch and building, will be reviewed by the city council tomorrow.
A large number of householders who live close by to the Linton Lodge Hotel, which is on the north of Linton Road and west of Charlbury Road, are concerned proposals would leave the hotel “overflowing” with guests, preventing “visitors and tradesmen from attending local properties throughout the week”.
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Householders are particularly concerned the development will make room for 123 bedrooms, which is substantially more than the existing 87 bedrooms, while also reducing the number of car parking spaces from 27 to seven.
Writing on the planning portal, Mark Younger, who lives on Charlbury Road, said: “Parking is actually being reduced, in support of public transportation, when street parking is already impossible due to hotel buses and guests.”
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Mr Younger said he was “certain” the “enormous monstrosity” of the building being proposed would lead to a “mass exodus of families” and a “change in the character of the community”.
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City councillor Katherine Miles said increased “traffic movements” from the higher proportion of guests visiting would pose a “safety risk to those walking and cycling on the road next to the hotel”.
She also expressed the concern that the “wellbeing of children walking, scooting and cycling to school” would be at risk if the development goes ahead.
Ms Miles said: “It is essential that any development does not deter or negatively impact residents and others from active travel or potentially pose harm to those cycling or walking due to deliveries.”
Householders on Charlbury Road are also anxious that new buildings will infringe upon “privacy” and “reduce light”.
Stephen Pavlovich, who lives on Northmoor Road, said the applicant had failed to provide any evidence that it would be “successful in promoting sustainable travel”.
He said: “As such, when they cut all but a couple of parking spaces and simultaneously increase room numbers they will simply be shifting the burden onto the local community and conservation area.”
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In the hotel’s travel plans, the reduction in parking spaces is justified on the grounds that there will be “continued investment in connecting sustainable travel infrastructure in the city and region”.
In the travel plan, it is stated the provision of seven spaces is considered operationally sufficient for the hotel.
The proposal includes plans for 60 cycle parking spaces.
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To sign up to Ed's weekly Politics newsletter, click here: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/newsletters/
Ed specialises in writing political stories for the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times.
He joined in the team in February 2023, after completing a History undergraduate degree at the University of York and studying for his NCTJ diploma in London.
Ed’s weekly politics newsletter is released every Saturday morning.
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