Flats will replace hotel as plan given go-ahead

BCP Council officers had recommended that the replacement for the hotel was rejected

A plan that will see a former hotel demolished and replaced by 44 flats has got the go-ahead.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) councillors approved the proposal for the St Michael's Hotel, in St Michael's Road, Bournemouth, against the recommendation of the authority's officers.

The officials had said the five-storey building would not be in keeping with the West Cliff and Poole Hill Conservation Area and not "match the design quality" of the current Victorian hotel.

But BCP Council's Western planning committee approved the plan on Thursday, with six councillors voting in favour, one voting against and another abstaining.

An application to convert the hotel building into flats was approved in August 2019 but Pure Town Planning, on behalf of applicant Aram Developments, said that proposal was ultimately "unviable".

Another application to knock the hotel down and use the site for a five-storey building and 38 flats was refused in March 2023.