City hotel expansion rejection overturned

The Paradise Street hotel was opened in summer 2019

A plan to extend a hotel that was rejected by a council can go ahead after an appeal overturned the decision.

The owners of the Courtyard by Marriott in Paradise Street can add nine new rooms to the 149-bedroom hotel by expanding its sixth storey.

Oxford City Council dismissed the application in March, in part because of the impact it said would be caused to significant buildings nearby, including St George's Tower and Oxford Castle.

But planning inspector Andrew Tucker found it "would not have a harmful effect on the significance" of those assets and allowed the hotel's plan to go ahead.

The four-star hotel opened in summer 2019 and is owned by Dominus, which applied for the planning permission.

It said the hotel was well used across the year and that its occupancy rate could grow to 98% in June and July.