Parents and shopkeepers in Bow are opposing a “hostel” moving into their road but the site developer is insisting they have nothing to worry about.
A letter was recently circulated at Old Ford Primary School in Roman Road warning parents about a planning application currently with Tower Hamlets council.
If approved, it would allow for the former Trader pub, next door to the school, to be turned into a 14-room “hostel” which parents argue would be inappropriate so close to the school.
But the developer, Suhaib Ali, who was on the site last Friday, says it will be a City View Hotel, part of a chain with two hotels already in Roman Road and Cambridge Heath Road.
Steven Bush, 29, of Grove Road, who has two children aged four and eight at the school, has made a formal complaint to the council.
He said: “If it’s like Booth House in Whitechapel, you will have people stood outside smoking and drinking.”
But Mr Ali said: “There will be no liquor and no people messing around.
“We’ve been in business for 25 years in this area and we’ve never had any complaints.”
Staff at the nearby G Kelly’s pie and mash shop, were also against the planning application, which does not provide for dining facilities and will have five full-time positions.
Leanne Black, 30, who lives in Roman Road and has a daughter at the school, said: “My daughter’s in her final year so hopefully she will have left before it’s built.”
Owner Sue Vening, 60, said: “I don’t think many people want a hotel, even if it was a top-class one.”
The consultation will end on April 7 and the council plans to make a recommendation on April 8.
If further objections are received, it will be presented to a planning committee and councillors will make a decision.
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