Greenwich hotel tower plan revised as room total increases

Approved plans for a Travelodge hotel in Greenwich are being revised in a new planning application.

Documents state rooms would increase from 300 to 367 and they’d be the installation of a second staircase.

This proposal has been knocking around for a few years now and I’d forgotten what design was actually being built. Handily the application includes revisions dating back as long ago as 2017.

The site’s location is beside the A102 approach road to Blackwall tunnel (and soon the adjacent Silvertown tunnel) and not too far from the o2.

It’s also handily placed for walking to other areas of Greenwich but I’m not too sure tourists will appreciate some approaches to a the rest of Greenwich.

When approved Greenwich Council planners opted to allocate extremely limited sums of Section 106 revenue to improve the pedestrian and cycling experience either to the o2 and North Greenwich station or towards east Greenwich and Greenwich town centre.

Tunnel Avenue is also not short of recent changes including another hotel recently opened.

Nearby changes

Opposite the proposed Travelodge sits another large plot with recently revealed plans for development.

Fairview Homes seek to build 352 flats and 340 student rooms at the site near Studio 338 club.

TfL have also submitted a curious plan for new development beside the site near the former gasholder.

This seems far less advanced with images and details emerging at the end of last year.

Bus changes

Transport for London are looking to divert an existing bus route which currently passes the proposed hotel and Fairview site so it runs along Tunnel Avenue. That’s to serve Morden Wharf (1,500 homes approved) and an adjacent site where a decision on hundreds more homes was deferred last month.

The January 2024 consultation for the 188 would also see it stop further away than present for pupils at St Mary Magdalene school forcing them to use some pretty poorly designed streets where vehicles rule.

Given the sheer scale of development retaining the existing route alongside a new route may be needed – but if a permanent diversion is on the cards it may make sense to wait and see which plots rise first. Diverting the 188 route to serve a development unbuilt while avoiding two others that could well complete beforehand would be amusing if a tad silly.

At the Travelodge site parking changes are part of the new plan with second and third floor parking spaces dropped in favour of a large ground floor parking area – though overall numbers will reduce.

You can view revisions (all 72 documents) on the Travelodge hotel here on the Greenwich Council planning portal.

Running a site takes much time and cost a lot of money. Adverts are far from enough to cover it and my rent.