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From the https://greenwichwire.co.uk
by Darryl Chamberlain, 17 January, 2024.
Hardy’s Freehouse: Plans for hotel and restaurant to replace
Greenwich pub approved.
The pub is likely to close within the next few weeks. Credit: The
Greenwich Wire.
In short:- Hardy's Freehouse on Trafalgar Road to be refurbished to
accommodate a hotel and restaurant.
- The current pub is expected to close in the coming weeks.
- Neighbours objected to an extra floor being added to the building
but the plans were approved by Greenwich's planning board.
Plans for a 10-room hotel above an east Greenwich pub were approved
on Tuesday night — with the building’s new owners planning a
restaurant in place of the current Irish bar, which is set to close
in the coming weeks.
Hardy’s Freehouse on Trafalgar Road is to have an extra floor built
on top to accommodate 10 “apart-hotel” rooms for short-term
accommodation, under the plans backed by Greenwich Council’s
planning board.
But the proposals from MAF Real Estate, a developer based on the
Isle of Dogs, came under fierce opposition from neighbours in the
next-door Vista Apartments, who complained that guests would be able
to see into their bedrooms and could even have direct access to them
via a flat roof.
It emerged during the meeting that the pub — once a live music
favourite that played host to early shows by Squeeze in the
mid-1970s — will close in the next few weeks, and a restaurant is
planned on the ground floor, something not made clear in the
planning documents. Once known as the "Bricklayer’s Arms," the pub
dates back to Victorian times but was rebuilt in the 1930s.
Questioned by the chair of planning, Gary Dillon, about neighbours’
accusations that the pub was poorly-run, Vincenzo Stampone, MAF’s
director, said: “There will be new management. We bought the
building in 2021 but until January 31 it is being run by the
ex-owner because they still have the lease and we were waiting for
the application to do the works.”
Regulars at the pub have been told it will stay open until the end
of February, The Greenwich Wire understands.
Sarah Hope, who lives in one of the next-door flats, said that there
would be a “loss of privacy” for residents, while arrangements to
collect rubbish from the hotel via the Vista car park presented
“potential threats to our security”. She added: “There have been
break-ins from where we believe the council hasn’t closed the locks
properly.”
The pub already has eight rooms above it, although these have not
been used for a year, and neighbours said the flat roof already gave
guests direct access to their homes, which were built about 20
years.
Rahul Ozer, another neighbour, said people from the pub were using
the roof to sunbathe and hang washing. “It leads me to think the
management is substandard and that doesn’t give much confidence for
the new building,” he said.
Render of pub development.
The developer plans to build another floor on top of the pub.
Credit: MAF Real Estate/Urbanist Architecture.
David Tudor-Morgan, another Vista resident, said many bedrooms were
now being used as home offices and residents were “working from home
all day every day”.
“What we want is an internal refurbishment, not [building] up …
that’d be a win-win for the environment, the developer and the
residents.”
Claudia Stephens of Urbanist Architecture, which designed the
extension, said that the design had been chosen to avoid being
overbearing and windows would have an 80-degree angle to limit
overlooking residents in the 20-year-old Vista block.
“There has been an element of overlooking that is a given and has
been a given since these buildings were given planning permission,”
she said.
The current rooms, which would be available for up to 90 days a year
for guests, were “not a liveable space for people”, she said.
“It’s a historic building that has fallen into bad condition,” she
said of the pub.
Councillors on the planning board set conditions around frosted
glass and canopies to limit overlooking, as well as placing planting
on the flat roof, while Dillon told planning officers that they
needed to set “robust” conditions on construction.
They also pushed for the fire door to be fitted with an alarm to
deter guests from going onto the roof.
Stampone said the new operation would be well-run. “We have a
management team for the other properties we have and we have another
building like this in Chelsea, and they do everything for us and
they will do the same here,” he said. “We will make sure no one goes
out on the roof without any reason.”
After the decision was made, Dillon suggested that Stampone invite
worried neighbours to his restaurant in Chelsea.
“Maybe it will help the residents understand how you operate and
what they can look forward to,” he said.
Referring to the neighbouring Japanese restaurant which closed
earlier this month, he continued: “I suppose with a nice new
restaurant on Greenwich high road, things could improve there. We’re
going to miss Zaibatsu but hopefully your restaurant may be able to
help.”
“It might be worth extending that invitation to the residents — and
to the local councillors,” he added to laughter. |
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