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Premier Inn has submitted an appeal against Cornwall Council’s planning committee decision to refuse its proposals for a Premier Inn hotel in St Ives.
The appeal has been made to the planning inspectorate, following the refusal of its application for a 90-bedroom Premier Inn hotel on land at Trewidden Road.
The request has been made for the appeal to be heard via a local public enquiry.
Whitbread’s planning application was presented by Cornwall Council planning officers to the members of Cornwall Council’s West Cornwall Sub-Area Planning Committee on 29 April 2024 with a recommendation for planning approval.
Following a debate, the members of the committee voted to refuse the application on the grounds the proposed hotel would have an “adverse impact on the character and appearance of the wider area including far-reaching views of the site from within St Ives Town”.
The appeal documents, prepared by JLL on behalf of Premier Inn Hotels Ltd, summarises the benefits of the proposed 90-bedroom hotel. These included:
- An identified need for an alternative type of accommodation offering year-round, budget hotel rooms on a previously developed site within St Ives;
- The creation of 30 permanent FTE year-round jobs at the hotel once fully operational with a further 80 (FTE) roles supported during the construction phase;
- A highly sustainable building that would utilise renewable technologies such as PV panels, air source heat pumps and space heating / hot water systems to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Outstanding’, exceeding the local policy requirement;
- A Biodiversity Net Gain in excess of 10%
An economic impact assessment submitted as part of the planning application also calculated the proposed 90-bedroom Premier Inn would contribute £2.2m in visitor expenditure per year to the St Ives economy.
Louise Woodruff, Property Acquisitions manager at Whitbread, said: “We are hopeful that we will have the opportunity to bring Premier Inn to St Ives. We believe that a Premier Inn hotel in St Ives will increase choice for visitors, generate year-round jobs and help the popular destination to prosper all year-round. We await the next steps from the Planning Inspectorate.”
