Seaside resort five-storey hotel given green light

Developers are keen to get started on the five-storey hotel "as soon as possible"

Plans to build a five-storey hotel next to a conference centre in a seaside town have been given the green light, with developers keen to start work "as soon as possible".

The 266-bedroom venue will be built in Blackpool next to the Winter Gardens after the proposal was unanimously approved by councillors.

It will bring a "global hotel brand" to the resort, according to developers, C1 Capital Partners Ltd and Mottrom Estates.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the new venue could pave the way for the main party political conferences to return to Blackpool.

The hotel is to be built on land between Alfred Street, Adelaide Street and Leopold Grove, which is currently used as a car park.

It would operate under two brands, catering for business guests and visitors to the resort.

Blackpool has not hosted major political party conferences since 2007, with the lack of hotel facilities attached to the Winter Gardens blamed.

'Major investment'

Addressing the planning committee on behalf of the applicants, Harry Spawton said the "landmark destination” could facilitate the return of such conferences.

He said an application setting out finer design details would now be submitted and the aim was "to start as soon as possible".

Blackpool Council's head of development management, Susan Parker said the scheme represented a major investment in the conference and exhibition sector.

Planning Committee members gave the go-ahead to a variation to an existing permission for a 160-room hotel on the site, which includes the additional rooms.

Blackpool Council bought the site about two years ago for an undisclosed sum.

It had been on the market with a £3m price tag.

Ian White, from hoteliers group StayBlackpool, told the meeting there were concerns the new hotel could adversely impact hotels nearby.

He said he would have preferred the smaller 160-room scheme to have gone ahead, which could then have been extended if demand was found for more rooms.

The brands which would operate the hotel have not been revealed, but C1 Capital’s current brands include Hilton London Olympia and a Mercure hotel in Northampton.