No again to hotel and energy park
Controversial plans to build a 400-room hotel and renewable energy park in Dorney have been rejected at appeal.
The proposal for the site at Orchard Herbs in Lake End Road was met with objections by residents as property developers, Adveneco Ltd, sought to turn the existing site into a ‘world-leading, sustainable renewable energy park’.
Dorney Parish Council previously objected to the proposal and Dorney residents were heavily opposed, considering the development to be ‘out of character’ for the village.
Comments against the proposal included the scale of the site ‘overshadowing’ the surrounding area, the ‘interference’ with adjacent properties such as The Pineapple pub, increased traffic and pollution, as well as limited demand for a hotel in the area and office units with people working from home.
After the application was refused in June 2022, an appeal was made against Buckinghamshire Council’s decision.
However, following site visits by the planning inspector in June and November 2023, the inspector was still ‘not satisfied’ with the proposal, and the appeal’s dismissal was upheld in a letter published on Monday by the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Felicity Buchan MP, on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The plans included the creation of 19,400 square metres of non-residential floorspace through a 416-bedroom hotel, two office units and an educational facility with vertical foresting on the buildings.
Also proposed were a twostorey car park, wind turbines, an on-site bio-waste digester and an area for a Tesla-type supercharger station.
The applicant said the proposal would ‘…exceed the best of any sustainable measures currently acknowledged’ and ‘incorporate every possible advanced technology and efficient futuristic design in a brilliant showcase development’.
They added: “Our goal is not only to develop and implement these but also to teach and broadcast them as far and as wide as possible and to surpass the government’s initiatives and measures to combat the climate concerns and energy emergencies that are affecting everyone in the country.”
The Secretary of State agreed the proposal had ‘clear economic benefits’ of job creation but limited evidence of educational and environmental benefits through ‘renewable and low carbon energy infrastructure could be achieved’.
The application site was deemed ‘brownfield’ or ‘previously developed’ land but the planning inspector concluded the current use of the site was unlawful and did not ‘benefit from planning permission’, therefore making the site agricultural or greenfield.
The planning inspector added: “The proposal would be inappropriate development in the greenbelt and would have an adverse impact on openness. I have also found harm to the significance of a number of designated heritage assets [and] harm in respect of the character and appearance of the surrounding area, highway safety, and flood risk.”
The Secretary of State agreed with the inspector that the proposal would not preserve the significance of either Huntercombe Conservation Area or Dorney Conservation Area and would not preserve the setting of Lake End House.