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PICCADILLY TO RECEIVE £500M ‘GIFT’
Ambitious plans for revamp – but heritage groups aren’t happy
THE West End has been given its “best Christmas present in a hundred years” after planning chiefs approved a £500 million overhaul of Piccadilly.
The Crown Estate’s ambitious plans include the restoration of the Café Royal, the Regent Palace Hotel and four streets in the southern end of Regent Street known as the Quadrant.
The decision to approve the plans has been criticised by heritage campaigners, but West End ward councillor Ian Wilder said: “This is the greatest Christmas present imaginable and the most important in the West End for a hundred years.
“The Regent Palace Hotel was a major burden on the police at West End Central, illegal parking blocked the lower end of Glasshouse Street and the consequent noise of hooting by frustrated drivers was something to behold late at night.”
He added: “You have to have vision to understand what this is going to do – the economic benefit of this is immeasurable and now unstoppable.”
Heritage campaigners are opposing the plans, which include moving two art deco restaurants in the famous Regent’s Palace Hotel into the basement, demolishing everything above it.
Adam Wilkinson, secretary of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, said: “The Crown Estate should know better than this. We got this building listed two years ago and are really angry about the plans. The Oliver Bernard art deco interior is spectacular.”
He added: “The hotel was a significant chapter in the women’s liberation movement.
“The Lyon’s tearooms there was the first place where women could meet in safety and without harassment.” |
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