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Search the Public Notice PortalPlans to build a 25-storey tower block in Clarendon Road in Watford have been rejected by the borough council’s development management committee.
At a meeting yesterday (June 2), councillors unanimously agreed to back a recommendation from planning officers that they refuse permission for the development.
It would have involved demolishing offices at 41-43 Clarendon Road and replacing them with two new buildings, one with 12 storeys and one with 25 storeys, as well as a linked eight storey building.
The tallest block would have included flats on each floor, while the 12-storey building would have commercial space on the ground and first floors, with flats occupying the spaces above.
The development would have involved a loss of 90 per cent of the existing office space at the site, and committee member Cllr Nigel Bell said: “We’re talking about Clarendon Road, which is the key office area for the town… I just can’t see any argument for going against what officers are saying tonight.”
Planning officers said the loss of office space would go against council policy, but Bridgid Taylor, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said a council study in 2024 found that there is a “significant” office space surplus.
She said: “The current commercial building has been vacant since 2023. It’s been marketed for five years… and there is zero occupier demand for this building.
“To insist upon this vacant brownfield site remaining in office use is not only economically unrealistic, but it ignores the council’s own evidence.”
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Cllr Glen Saffery said he was “surprised” that the applicants had “come forward with something that’s so clearly out of step with local policy”.
Another committee member, Cllr Iain Sharpe, said the proposed buildings would be “clunky and ungainly and won’t enhance the skyline at all”.
“Encouraging good development does also mean turning down bad development, and this is a bad scheme,” he said.
Concerns were also raised about low levels of sunlight reaching the proposed homes and a lack of affordable housing.
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