Another town hotel gets demolition go-ahead

Friday 11 March 2022

The long-standing 84-bedroom Apollo Hotel is to be demolished and turned into homes, after getting the green light from the Planning Committee yesterday.

Plans for 95 apartments on the site were submitted by Dandara in 2020, but were scaled back to 78 at the end of last year.

71 of the apartments will be one-bedroom homes, six will have two bedrooms, and one will have three.

The application was approved by the Planning Committee on Thursday morning.

Ahead of yesterday's decision, the application was considered by Planning Department officers, who recommended its approval.

Pictured: Planning officers wanted to see some improvements to road layout made.

However, they said this should be on the condition that the applicant agrees to make financial contributions towards transport and pedestrian improvements.

These included:

• picking up the bill for the Infrastructure Department to widen the footpath along St. Saviour's Road (uncosted) and £35,000 towards junction improvements in the area at the bottom of College Hill;
• Contributing £11,500 towards a new bus shelter and £45,641 to the public bus subsidy;
• £1,350 per new residential unit towards pedestrian and cycle improvements in the area;
• and providing a £250 eVie voucher and a £495 bus service to each new home.

In a report, the Department said that the application should be returned to the Planning Committee if an agreement cannot be struck within three months.

The Apollo - which is owned by the Huggler Group, which also owns the Club Hotel and Spa - is the latest in a line of hotels to be turned into homes.

The Revere and Stafford Hotels in Kensington Place are due to make way for more than 100 flats, while the Mayfair is in the process of being transformed into 201 apartments.

Pictured: The Mayfair, which is just down the road from The Apollo Hotel, is currently in the process of being turned into homes.

The owner of the Savoy has also put forward a plan to replace the decades-old establishment with 'eco-homes'.