Student accommodation plan for The Walpole

The owners of the steaming pile of rubble formerly known as The Walpole (403-405 New Cross Road) have changed their minds about about building a hotel there and submitted an application for a "part 4 and part 5 storey building with basement for 60 student rooms and communal facilities at part basement, part ground and upper levels including commercial use (A4) at ground floor and car and cycle spaces." The building is little changed from the previous plans.

It always seemed an unlikely location for a hotel of this scale and specifications, so to the extent that this is a more plausible use for the building, it is reassuring that they actually intend to do something with the site. But it's hugely irritating that The Walpole was allowed to be destroyed on the basis of a plan so incredible that the developers had a change of heart while the dust was still settling on its ruins.