Julia Lopez MP has received a number of enquiries from constituents in connection to the planning application for a hotel in Upminster.

Please find below an update Julia has issued to those constituents who contacted her about this matter.

Thank you very much for writing to me about the planning application for a hotel in Upminster on Station Road. I have received a large number of emails in the past day or so on this issue so please forgive me for replying to everyone in similar terms.

I know how strongly residents feel about this application because my team and I compiled a submission of everyone’s views against the plan when it went before Havering’s planning committee. As you know, that plan was subsequently rejected by local councillors on the committee and we were pleased when the community’s concern about scale, in particular, were recognised.

The developer subsequently appealed against the committee’s decision and the case was taken to the Planning Inspectorate, which decided this month to let the plan go ahead. I have received a few emails from residents that suggest Ministers have made a political choice to override a local decision, which is not correct. While the Inspectorate is an executive agency of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, its decisions are made by independent Planning Inspectors. No politician has the ability to directly influence the Inspectorate’s decision-making on an individual appeal, so I regret that there is no simple step I can take to overturn this judgement.

A number of constituents have asked how they might appeal the Inspector’s decision. I am afraid that decisions made by the Planning Inspectorate cannot be ‘appealed’ on the basis of disagreement with that decision. They can only be challenged by way of a judicial review if it is considered that the individual inspector has made an error on a point of law. This is outlined here

My team and I have been looking through the Planning Inspector’s report on this appeal. The Inspector sets out that there has been a Section 106 agreement made between the Council and the applicant through which some of the reasons for original refusal have been addressed, while a number of other undertakings have been made. He also says he cannot take into account the Council’s Local Plan as they are in the process of updating it. Finally, he sets out that conditions have been suggested by the Council which he supports, some of which relate to a good standard of external appearance, design and landscaping. Others seem to have been imposed on public safety, traffic management, unreasonable noise and disturbance. 

I am unable to access the agreement and so we cannot determine its substance or why the Council therefore determined not to pursue those reasons for their refusal within the consideration of the appeal. So I am going to get in touch with Havering’s planning team to seek clarity on this and would encourage constituents to pursue this with their councillors, who are elected to represent them on Havering Council, on these points.

Finally, some residents are concerned that, once built, the hotel will be used to accommodate asylum seekers. In October, the Home Office announced that it would begin the process of closing hotels that are already in use for this purpose, with the first fifty to be closed by the end of January. More recently, it was confirmed that this would extend to ending the use of the Ibis Hotel in Romford by the end of February. When making the initial October announcement the Home Office published an FAQ sheet that addresses the potential for future hotel contracts to be established. The Home Office has said that they have no intention of taking such a route. This can be read here.

Thank you for writing to me with your concerns over the hotel plan. I am sorry that I cannot provide you with a more reassuring response when it comes to challenging the Planning Inspectorate’s decision. I will be in touch with everyone again once I have a clearer picture from the Council about what conditions might have been imposed that will improve on the original plan.