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Foxhall revamp set to be refused
PLANS to knock down two derelict Blackpool hotels and replace them with apartments look set to get thrown out by planners today.
This comes despite the fact regeneration chiefs want to revitalise the Tyldesley Road area of the resort.
Separate schemes to replace the former Verona Hotel and the former Saville Hotel with apartments have been recommended for refusal when they go before the council's development control committee.
The proposals are within the area covered by the Foxhall Area Action Plan which, as revealed in The Gazette last week, is aiming to see a number of streets bulldozed and replaced with up to 400 new homes if 35m of Government funding can be secured.
The council wants to see comprehensive redevelopment of the area rather than piecemeal construction.
But Peter Leonard, of the LPS Group which proposes to convert the former Verona Hotel into 20 self-contained permanent apartments, says businesses like his should still be encouraged to invest.
Mr Leonard, who owns seven properties in total on Tyldesley Road, said: "We pinned our hopes on the (super) casino, but that didn't happen, and now we're in a similar situation again hoping to get some Government money for this scheme.
"But the council has not got the money yet, and what if they don't get it? If people rest on their laurels in the hope of getting a compulsory purchase order for their property, in five years time we might not have got the money and this area will have deteriorated further.
"With the Verona, which has been empty for five years, we want to do something now. We're ready to go with a 540,000 development. We don't need Government money, the money is secured."
Carl Norman, owner of the former Saville Hotel which was knocked down after a fire, wants to built 16 two-bedroomed self-contained flats on the site but that scheme is also recommended for refusal.
A report to councillors says both schemes are "premature" given the "imminent production of development proposals for the wider Foxhall Resort Neighbourhood."
It adds: "The granting of permission in this instance could compromise the comprehensive redevelopment and improvement of the area."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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