Royal Gazette: Environmental pushback begins against Fairmont Southampton plans
Environmental groups have been “bombarded” with calls from members of the public who are “outraged” at the redevelopment plans for the Fairmont Southampton hotel.
Residents are being urged to apply “public pressure” to the Government with a view to getting the project scaled back.
But the company behind the development has defended its plans, claiming that in order to contain the footprint of new buildings — including 261 new residential and tourism units — it had opted to “build up instead of building out“.
Some of the new builds are six storeys high.
Westend Properties Ltd also claimed that the artist impressions it contained in its special development order were not “an accurate reflection” of how the resort will look when completed.
The SDO application for the controversial expansion was made public on Wednesday, raising alarm among environmental groups.
Documents in the application contained artist impressions of six-storey residential blocks dominating the skyline, while an environmental impact report noted that 261 new units will have a “major” visual impact on the property.