Plans to demolish Alveston aviation pioneer hotel approved

The main part of the building was constructed in 1797

Plans to demolish a Georgian hotel once owned by an aviation pioneer to build 22 new homes have been approved.

Outline proposals to knock down Alveston House Hotel near Bristol were granted, despite 40 objections from residents and a parish council.

The building also has a blue plaque in memory of Capt Frank Barnwell, who built and flew the first aircraft in Scotland in 1910.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the plaque would be kept.

The decision marks the "end of a long-running saga over the 'eyesore' building" which is located on David's Lane on the A38 in Alveston, near Bristol, according to the LDRS.

Alveston Parish Council clerk Graham Smith told South Gloucestershire Council's development management committee a "great number of residents" opposed the proposal.

Plans to demolish the hotel and replace it with 22 homes have been approved

Mr Smith said: "The council and residents are particularly concerned that the parish is on the verge of losing one of its iconic landmarks.

"The council therefore proposes that all the modern additions to this 18th Century house be demolished and the remaining shell converted to affordable apartments.

"The remainder of the land could then be used for housing development as proposed."

He said more traffic and parked cars could threaten the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, adding the junction was "busy and often chaotic".

A representative of Prestige Retirement Living, which submitted the plans, but does not intend to make it a retirement village, said the proposals were for lower density housing than previously and a hotel generated more traffic than the new homes.

South Gloucestershire councillor Judy Adams said the area would be improved if the hotel was demolished.

Members agreed with officers' recommendation to grant permission by five votes to two, with two abstentions.