Torquay hotel apartment plans refused permission

The 25-bedroom hotel closed in 2022 and has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour

Plans to tear down a former hotel and replace it with apartments has been refused planning permission.

The owner of Hotel Virginia, Falkland Road, Torquay, Devon, told Torbay Council's planning committee that the Victorian building was beyond saving.

Planners turned down the proposal for a block of 14 apartments, due to the consideration of "heritage policies".

Councillor Adam Billings said it was the "most difficult" planning decision he had faced.

The 25-bedroom hotel closed in 2022 and has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Owner Brett Powis said converting the existing building would not work, as the property would end up with "awful bedsits and small flats" and he did not want to be a "slum landlord".

He said his proposal for a whole new building would stop the hotel becoming a blight on the local neighbourhood.

Architect Dan Metcalfe said the building was "highly defective" and "rotten".

He said: "We can't simply say that because something is old that it demands preservation."

'Housing crisis'

However, council planning officers said the proposal would harm conservation areas and overshadow neighbouring properties, and should be refused.

Historic England said the harm caused to the conservation area would be "substantial" and the Victorian Society said the proposed replacement building was "of undistinguished design."

Councillor Nick Pentney said: "This is a really hard decision. We have seen what can happen when former hotel sites fall to rack and ruin and development is not forthcoming, and we definitely don't want to see that here.

He said: "We also have a housing crisis, but in our rush to have something there we can't throw out the baby with the bathwater. We cannot ignore the fact that we have heritage policies to consider.

"I don't think this proposal is so exceptionally good that it warrants us disregarding a massive part of our heritage."

The committee voted unanimously to refuse the application.