Plans to revive landmark Sidmouth hotel rejected

Plans to sell part of the Richmond Hotel to fund renovation work were turned down by planners

Plans to revive the fortunes of a Sidmouth hotel have been unanimously rejected by East Devon District Council (EDDC).

The scheme for the Grade II-listed Richmond Hotel, in Elysian Fields, included plans to split the site into residential accommodation and a wedding and music venue.

The applicant, Richmond Estates Sidmouth, wanted to sell the residential properties to help fund renovation works elsewhere in the building.

However, planners unanimously turned down the proposals mainly due to concerns about protecting heritage.

'Years of neglect'

Planners also noted objection from Historic England which stated that it would refer the matter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government if the scheme was approved.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the plans were rejected despite public support for the proposal.

Councillor Ian Barlow said: "I have sympathy with the applicant but we can't go against not only our officers, even though we sometimes do, and then go against Homes England too, who are the experts."

Suzanne Jenkins, from Richmond Estates Sidmouth, said: "We have spent the past year trying to find the £4.5m needed to repair the years of neglect.

"We consider this application a last chance for the building before the repairs become even more uneconomical," she added.

The Richmond Hotel, officially called Sidholme, was originally constructed in 1823 and overlooks Sidmouth.

It includes a ballroom, constructed by the 6th Earl of Buckinghamshire, Augustus Edward Hobart-Hampden and an annexe, built as a laboratory early in the last century by the engineer Frederick Lindemann, who became Winston Churchill's key scientific adviser during World War II.