PUB GIANTS IN HOTEL BAR BID
Chain plans £2.5m investment and new jobs
Pub giants J D Wetherspoon are hoping to turn their Stirling city centre bar into a hotel in a £2.5 million development.
The chain’s proposals for the Crossed Peels in Spittal Street include creating 32 bedrooms in the upper floors as well as a roof garden.
They say the plans could create an extra 15 jobs on the premises and boost the Stirling economy.
An application has been submitted to Stirling Council planners for a change of use of offices in the existing building to hotel accommodation - while keeping the existing pub on the ground floor.
The move comes less than three years after the company ditched a bid to open a second outlet in a nearby four-storey listed building at 43-51 King Street involving a 29-bedroom hotel and public complex.
Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon told the Observer: “We have submitted plans for a 32-bedroom hotel at our pub in Stirling, together with a roof garden.
“The overall investment would be more than £2.5 million and an additional 15 jobs would be created at the pub.
“Our pub in Stirling is very popular and we are always looking to improve the offer to customers.
“We believe the addition of a hotel and roof garden will be a great asset to the pub and also the town itself.
“We also believe the investment will act as a catalyst for other businesses to invest in the town.”
In November 2015, the pub giants announced they were marketing the King Street property.
They had intended to convert the property into a hotel and pub and create 45 jobs.
While they successfully secured planning consent and provisional licences for the scheme, it had drawn criticism for its proximity to the company’s existing Spittal Street premises, with critics, including Mercat Cross and Kings Park Community Councils, claiming it was merely an excuse for another pub when there were already too many in the city centre.
The nearby Golden Lion Hotel had also objected, pointing out the proposed capacity of 800 persons would more than double Wetherspoons capacity within a distance of 100 metres and there was no demand for this in the city centre.