Concerns over 'hideous' flats plan for Bristol Hotel site in Newquay
Newquay residents have raised concerns about the redevelopment of an iconic seafront hotel.
The Hotel Bristol was opened in 1927 and is built in the free Arts and Crafts style with turreted towers and wooden balconies.
The hotel, perched above Tolcarne Beach closed its doors this week after 96 years in business.
Manchester-based developer Salboy Ltd plans to demolish it, and the neighbouring derelict Narrowcliff Hotel, to build modern apartments.
The plans were described as "hideous" and a "monstrosity" by residents when submitted last year.
Original plans were submitted last year for a larger development that proposed to incorporate several well-known restaurants including Wagamama and Nandos. They have since been scaled back.
Newquay resident and former Cornwall Councillor for the area Geoff Brown has criticised the latest design as still being too large.
He told ITV News: "I don't think we need such a huge development as this. What Newquay is crying out for is affordable housing and yes there is affordable housing attached to this, but it looks a bit like a prison block at the back of the building."
The plans include new one, two and three-bedroom apartments spread over three buildings, along with 49 affordable homes which will make up 35% of the development.
Monique Collins runs Newquay DISC, a drop-in food bank and support centre which also offers housing advice and support for those in financial difficulty. She says the development doesn't meet local housing need.
She told ITV News: "It's not by far enough, that whole site should have been used for affordable homes. That way we could have made at least a little bit of a change, we have thousands of families sat in hotel rooms and in campsites."
In a statement, the MD of developer Salboy Ltd Simon Ismail said: “We held public consultations prior to submitting our planning application. The current scheme is a direct response to all key comments obtained during this process and feedback received through the formal neighbourhood consultation process to the previously submitted proposal."
He added: "The development of the site offers us an opportunity to bring a fresh and vibrant development to the area, bringing new life to the Narrowcliff frontage and ensuring the regeneration of this prominent area of Newquay can start to take place."
A history of the building from proprietor Best Western Hotels says the Hotel Bristol was originally established by Howard and Minnie Young in 1927. In the Second World War it became home to the evacuated pupils of Benenden School, who played sports on Tolcarne Beach.
It then joined the Best Western Group of hotels in 1993, and was independently run until it was sold in 2021 to developer Salboy.
The planning application PA22/10572 is yet to be decided.