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Blackpool £40m hotel plan thrown out
HOTELIERS say they are "devastated" after their multi-million pound scheme to transform part of Blackpool's South Promenade was thrown out by by planners.
Councillors on Blackpool's development control committee voted to refuse the application for an 11-storey high residential development on the site of The Kimberley, The Waldorf and the Henderson hotels on Bourne Crescent.
Now the consortium behind the 40m proposals for 166 apartments will sit down together to decide what steps to take next.
They have the option of appealing against the decision, re-submitting their application or giving up on the project altogether.
But the latter would leave a gap in the redevelopment of Bourne Crescent because councillors have already approved three earlier applications for 11-storey schemes at either end of the block, and to replace the Palm Beach Hotel.
However, planning officers recommended refusal of the latest application because it did not include any holiday accommodation.
Hotelier Max Smith, who has been spearheading the proposals, said: "We are devastated that, having insisted on us promoting a comprehensive approach to the whole development – which, from the other parts of the scheme, has achieved a retention of most of the tourist accommodation – they have moved the goal posts in the 90th minute and switched back to consideration of the individual parts rather than the scheme as a whole.
Town hall planners argued that allowing a scheme comprising purely residential development would "set an adverse precedent" and undermine the resort's attempts to kick-start an increase in the number of staying visitors.
It had been hoped the block could be redeveloped comprehensively as a string of four glass-fronted properties, designed by three separate architects in conjunction with each other.
The Palm Beach won planning permission in June for a 14m rebuild project while two separate outline applications have been approved for hotels including The Colwyn, The Skye, The Trafford, The Sandpiper and The Headlands, which would see a mixture of residential and holiday accommodation built at each end of Bourne Crescent.
For the full story see Boxing Day's Gazette
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Weather for Blackpool
Friday 25 May 2012
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