Hotel firm and neighbouring borough the latest to object to City tower

Fresh objections have been made against proposals to build a 32-storey tower in the Square Mile after neighbouring offices complained it will blight their daylight and damage their occupiers’ health.

The scheme at 55 Gracechurch Street is being developed by Hong Kong firm Tenacity under a design drawn up by Fletcher Priest Architects.

But documents filed with the City of London reveal several freeholders of nearby offices have drawn up a host of concerns about the scheme and have asked for it to be refused planning.

Now City Apartments, the operator of a seven-storey hotel and 36 apartments on nearby Philpot Lane, has written to the City’s chief planning officer Gwyn Richards, objecting and claiming it will “suffer impacts relating to the loss of amenity, privacy, daylight, sunlight and wind impacts which will likely result in a viable business suffering adversely as a result of the proposals”.

In its letter, sent by property consultant Lambert Smith Hampton, Richards is told: “Should [refusal] not happen, our clients have signalled their intention to challenge the lawfulness of any future decision.”

Also objecting is neighbouring council Southwark which has said Fletcher Priest’s design is “much less refined that its neighbour [the Walkie Talkie] and more pragmatic in character”.

The council said the development, combined with the Walkie Talkie, would blot out several views from the riverside at Butlers Wharf  on the south side of the Thames “adding to the visual clutter and extending the tall buildings cluster at the City further to the west”.

It added: “The proposal should be substantially amended to reduce its scale in order [to] avoid its harmful visual impact on the setting of Tower Bridge and its river frontage setting.”

Plans for a second building on the same street by Tenacity have also gone in to City planners. The 33-storey scheme at 70 Gracechurch Street has been designed by KPF.