Prom flats plan back before council again

Kimberley Hotel, South Promenade, Blackpool.

Developers are persevering with proposals to bulldoze the Kimberley, Waldorf and Henderson Hotels on Wimbourne Place, South Promenade, despite having three previous bids thrown out by council planners.

A fresh application has now been submitted which reduces the number of apartments proposed from 91 to 88.

The penthouse apartment has been removed reducing the scale of the building by one floor, while the number of car parking space has been increased from 84 to 89.

It is hoped the changes will persuade Blackpool’s planning committee to approve the £7m scheme which first went before the council eight years ago.

Among the reasons it has previously been thrown out was because councillors felt the development was over-intensive.

A design statement accompanying the latest application says: “The applicants believe that the previous scheme was perfectly acceptable in terms of this reason for refusal, but they have amended the scheme to eliminate three flats to decrease the bulk.

“Importantly one of the flats eliminated is the penthouse which previously sat at the highest part of the scheme on the corner of Wimbourne Place.

“Elimination of one floor of development, plus the elimination of two further flats makes a significant difference to the character of the development.”

It adds the scheme would boost the economy in that area by creating more jobs, and says: “The appearance of the building will be uncompromisingly modern in its design, but it is contended that this prominent site can properly support this approach.”

The building would be between three to six storeys in height.

The Kimberley Hotel has been closed and boarded up since 2011, while the Henderson is also no longer trading.

The first bid to redevelop the site with 166 apartments was thrown out by the council in 2009, while last year the scheme was refused on grounds of over development and lack of parking.

Blackpool-based Create Development has planning permission for an £8.5m scheme to build a four-storey 130-bedroom hotel on the site of the vacant Palm Beach and Bourne Hotels, also on Wimbourne Place, which have now been demolished (left).