New hotel plans for St Austell car park

THERE are plans to build a new 60-bedroom hotel on a car park in St Austell town centre.

A planning application has been submitted to Cornwall Council to build the hotel complex on the car park next to the Sedgemoor Centre on Priory Road.

The plans are for a 60-bed hotel over three/four floors and also include a restaurant in the building and on-site parking.

In a design and access statement submitted with the plans, it explains: “The current proposals seek to optimise the potential of the site providing a quality 60 bed hotel with café/ restaurant and on-site parking. It seeks to contribute positively to its setting by creating a striking and elegant building.”

It adds: “The hotel will be three/four storeys high in a ‘T’ shape arrangement which is very much in keeping with the

Campus building to the north of the site, ensuring that they both complement one another.

“The hotel will predominantly sit over allocated parking and drop=off areas to make best use of the site. The restaurant area is located on the south side with panoramic glazing.”

In the summary of the statement, the application reads: “The site presents an opportunity to provide a quality viable commercial development, within an existing urban area close to excellent transport links and amenities.

“The proposed development would make efficient and effective use of the site and create a contemporary, yet sympathetic, design. This would capitalise on the opportunities afforded by the site, whilst minimising any potentially negative effects.

“The core aim is to create a new development, which positively interacts with its surrounding area employing high quality design. The scheme is mindful of the nature of the site location and seeks to ensure quality of outlook and privacy for both users and existing adjacent occupiers.”

There is currently one objection to the application on the

Cornwall Council planning portal.

Wendy Earl states: “I do not object to having a hotel on this site. It will bring more people to our town centre and be a spur to our economy. However, there are serious access/traffic issues, to say nothing about an already overloaded sewage system. (That really needs fixing now!)

“However, I do object to the design. It looks like something parachuted in from any city in the world – so is quite unfitting for a town in Cornwall. “

No date has been set for when a decision will be made on the application.