Eyesore hotel demolition ‘could begin in weeks’
NATIONAL PARK BOSSES SET FOR DIRECT ACTION AFTER 2015 ORDER RESISTED BY OWNERS
THE demolition of an eyesore hotel could take place as early as this month, national park chiefs have confirmed.
Concerns have been raised about the “unsightly” appearance of Harlech’s St David’s hotel since it shut in 2008.
Now a report that will be presented to the authority’s planning committee this week, confirms demolition works on the hotel, which was built in 1910, could begin within weeks after a contractor was appointed.
This would mark a key milestone in the long-running dispute between the Snowdonia National Park Authority and the hotel’s owners, with officers having issued an enforcement notice in 2015 to demolish the building after it was declared unsafe.
Earlier this year, following years of legal wrangling, the SNPA appointed a contractor to
build a bat barn and offer a new home for the hotel’s colony of bats as they prepare for its eventual demolition.
Aitchison Associates was first granted planning consent to demolish the building and replace it with a new 130 bedroom hotel and 76 holiday apartments in 2009.
But these plans have never come to fruition. The company has so far paid out £21,900 in fines for failing to comply with the enforcement notice. But with the Gibraltar-based owners having resisted such calls, the authority is now planning to take direct action and carry out the work itself.
The report that will be presented to planning committee members tomorrow, Thursday, notes: “The Authority are exploring the possibility of initiating ‘direct action’ under Section 219, to attempt to secure the demolition of the hotel. Tender documentation for demolition has been published on Sell2Wales and the deadline for tender bids was on the 22nd May 2019. The tender bids have been assessed and a demolition contractor has been appointed.
“Pre-demolition surveys are currently taking place. Provided these surveys are satisfactory, demolition works will commence at the beginning of September 2019.”
The authority says the hotel’s “unsightly appearance seriously detracts from the surrounding vicinity and prevents the economic development of Harlech”.