18/00713/VAR & 15/02836/VAR

Hampton By Hilton Oxford Grenoble Road Oxford OX4 4XP

22 April 2018

 Removal of condition 3 (Repairs to The Priory) of planning permission 15/02836/VAR (Variation of condition 3 (Repairs to The Priory) of planning permission 15/02836/VAR to allow an additional six months to undertake facade repairs after opening of new hotel.

 Oxford Civic Society objects in the strongest terms to this application.

As a Grade II* listed building, the architectural and historic significance of the Priory is beyond dispute.  As the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 makes clear, the setting of a listed building forms part of its character and under the terms of Section 66 of the Act, the local authority, in considering whether to grant planning permission for development is obliged to pay special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting. The terms of the 2005 consent was consistent with this requirement.

The Society concurs with the arguments very clearly set out by the Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society letter of 25 March 2018.

For the City to approve this application would, in the Society’s view, be to reward neglect and disregard for the terms of the original approval.