Residents are continuing to fight against a new development as works begin to demolish a 200-year-old pub in Marylebone to make way for a seven-storey hotel.
Neighbours are launching a legal challenge against the project on the corner of Chapel Street and Old Marylebone Road over fears the new tower will block out the light to their flats.
Properties that enjoy light continuously for more than 20 years acquire special rights under common law.
Ana (not her real name), who lives on the fifth floor of a neighbouring block of flats, says a majority of neighbouring resident would have their light ‘significantly’ inhibited as a result of the development.
Scaffolding erected around the former The Chapel pub as work begins to demolish the 200-year-old building (Photo: WT)
Another resident, who asked not to be named, said the development would make her flat her ‘coffin’ as the new building would block out much of the light coming into her windows to her apartment.
‘If we lose the lights we will lose everything, our flat will become our coffin’, she said.
Formerly named Pontefract Castle, the corner plot pub was built in the early 19th century.
According to land registry records, the pub and its garden were acquired in 2015 for £7.5million.
The building is now part of a portfolio owned by Felberco Investments Limited, which operates as a shell company for a firm in Cyprus.
The developer received planning permission for a 44-bed hotel with a public house earmarked for the ground floor.
However the proposals drew objections from several locals for being too tall and out of keeping with the surrounding area.
The Marylebone Association called the design ‘bland’ adding that it ‘bears no connection to the site and immediate environment and makes no positive contribution to the conservation area’.
But planners deemed the proposed structure ‘acceptable’ in design and conservation terms, conceding that while the 19th century pub had design merit, it had reached ‘the end of its design life’. Pictures submitted with the application showed the building, especially the basement, had deteriorated to a poor condition.
The pub itself was not listed and there was no objection to the plans from Historic England. Two Grade II Listed red telephone boxes have been relocated for the development.
A large tree at the junction of two roads has also been ripped out and will be replaced with a tulip tree when the new development is complete.
However residents believe that a new fledgling tree will unlikely flourish there following the development.
Original designs showed an even taller building before the block was reduced in height in an attempt to alleviate neighbours’ concerns.
But Ana believes the revised hotel building will significantly harm the area and neighbouring buildings.
She added that the council had simply ‘brushed aside’ residents’ concerns.
Westminster Times has approached Squires and Partners and the developers for comment.