Plans to build a restaurant on the side of the Thames in Kingston have been rejected by the council.

The Barge Dock site in Down Hall Road, at the south end of Canbury Gardens, is the last part of the former Kingston Power Station site to be developed.

Planning permission was granted in 2012 for a pastiche Victorian design restaurant, but developers said despite a full marketing campaign there has not been enough interest to make the project viable.

The new plans also included nine residential flats on the riverside site.

Kingston Council’s decision to refuse permission was made for several reasons.

The River Thames Boat Project, which offers therapeutic and educational activities on the river, including for people with special needs, disabilities or mental health conditions, uses the dock as a mooring site.

Even notwithstanding this, the London Plan requires development of this kind to improve riverside access and enhance the river’s potential for sport, recreation, leisure, educational activities and tourism.

Other reasons included that views from Canbury Gardens down to the river would be obscured, the building would have not been in keeping with the area’s character and the building is within a flood zone, in which development is resisted.

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