Dear Member,
The email sent yesterday caused picture printing difficulties and we have made minor revisions to the text. Please remove the one from yesterday and refer to this email.
Help the Stop the Towers Campaign: Redevelopment of Kensington Forum Hotel, 97-109 Cromwell Road, London SW7
An application to redevelop the Holiday Inn/Kensington Forum Hotel on Cromwell Road has been received by the RBKC. We, along with local residents’ associations, are strongly opposed to this proposal. The existing 29-storey building at 92m/302feet tall has been an “eyesore” on our skyline since 1973. However, it cannot and should not be used as a “precedent” to justify a much bigger scheme which would further blight both our communities and our skyline.
Following the completion of the current building, the Council strengthened its planning policies against tall buildings with the result that the Council has not permitted a single tall building in the borough in the last 45 years. We want them to maintain this record.
We need your help to object to:
- The scale and height of the three new buildings:
- one for a 30-storey hotel at 102m/335 feet tall, which would make it the tallest building in RBKC – 5 times the prevailing height of surrounding buildings;
- the second, a 22-storey serviced apartments building, would be 77m/253 feet, the 4th tallest (10m/33 feet taller than Grenfell Tower); and
- the third would be a 8-storey/35m/115 foot housing block containing 46 flats (26 for the open market; 20 for social/affordable housing).
- The two tall buildings would be taller than the proposed Newcombe House in Notting Hill Gate - tallest would be 30m/98 feet taller and the second 5m/16.5 feet taller – which has been repeatedly refused by the planning committee and lacks the significance public benefits provided in the Newcombe House proposal.
- The development would be 50% larger/denser than the present building, with densities only found in places like the City of London and Vauxhall, at least 4 times that of the surrounding area.
- The buildings would have a significantly harmful impact on the adjoining conservation areas, further dominating and overwhelming the immediate locality either side of Cromwell Road.
- The buildings would have a significant impact on the living conditions in the immediate area.
- The buildings would increase the adverse impact on the long views – taller, wider, bulkier profile - and will be further intrude on the skyline as seen from Kensington Gardens, Battersea Bridge, as well as from Cromwell Road.
- It would include a conference facility for 1,500 people at one time, with 500 exiting every hour.
- The garden would be re-established, but this is required to be retained by law. It is not a gift, but a fundamental planning requirement.
Though the Holiday Inn is a profitable hotel with 906 rooms for the budget market, the owner openly admits, there are operational problems which cannot be addressed through renovation. The developer is using the profitability of the existing hotel as the baseline for its value to justify the large increase in density. We disagree. A clapped-out building which cannot be revamped should have less value and should not be used as a viability reason to allow such an increase in the size of the development.
How to object:
- It is essential to express your objection in your own words – highlight the key issues and how these are likely to affect you and how strongly you feel about the proposed redevelopment.
- Make clear what you consider is wrong and what you do not like.
- You can access the application on
- And if you live nearby, please copy your comments to your ward councillors:
If you are happy to have your name and street recorded, please say so on your comment form.
Yours sincerely
Amanda Frame
The Kensington Society
www.kensingtonsociety.org | Registered Charity No. 267778
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When you google Pooter Cockell no references to the numerous national press articles about his dubious expenses come up. 
