Bircherley Green Hotel Changes Sought

Redevelopment of Bircherley Green is four months behind schedule as developers seek to make changes to plans approved by the District Council.

A "Non Material Amendment" has been submitted by Wrenbridge to "respond to the site conditions as have been established during demolition and to improve accessibility" and to improve "buildability, sequencing and overall viability".

The changes include the simplification of the hotel entrance, with the removal of louvres and curtain walling. Other refinement have been made to the windows and louvres on the first and second storeys.

Left: Original design. Right: Revised design.

The NMA application follows refusal of an earlier application late last year that was refused due to the changes being determined as too significant to be described as non-material. Some of the changes in that earlier application do not appear in the new proposals.

The application for changes to the hotel are separate from another application for the main shopping centre that reduces the number of homes and increases office space.

A Non-Material Amendment is a small change to an approved plan that avoids the need for a new planning application, allowing instead for the existing permission to be amended whilst remaining subject to the original conditions and time limits. NMAs are usually decided by a planning officer and withour a public consultation.