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On his bike: Boris Johnson |
Historic church a spoke in Boris’s wheel
PLANNING chiefs are set to refuse permission for one of the Mayor of London’s flagship cycle hire docking stations in Marylebone because it will spoil the view of a listed church.
The proposed site outside St Peter’s in Chapel Place would have a “harmful impact” on the setting of the 1721 building according to planning officers at Westminster City Council.
A planning committee is expected to turn down the application for the station that would accommodate 32 bikes along with another site in Piccadilly – two of the 167 planned stations in Westminster that form part of the mayor’s bid to create a cycle scheme to rival that of the Velib in Paris.
A report to the committee stated: “The docking station is considered to be unacceptable in design terms. The proposed location is close to the Grade I-listed
St Peter’s church. The docking station would appear incongruous and over-dominant in this location and would have a harmful impact on the setting of the church. It is therefore recommended that permission is refused.”
It comes after a dispute at another site in South Audley Street, Mayfair, which will be the subject of high court action. If successful, hundreds of other sites could be the subject of legal challenges from businesses and residents’ groups.
Transport for London began submitting applications for the scheme Mr Johnson called a “cycling revolution” back in July, and so far the majority have been approved with just a handful deemed unsuitable, usually on safety grounds.
Of the 167, 17 have been refused permission.
The mayor hopes to have the scheme running by next summer with around 6,000 bikes available from 400 stations in central London.
Mr Johnson said the bikes would make central London a more “livable city”. |
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