It’s been a little hard to keep track of the hotel plans but a new planning application has been submitted to increase it from 3 to 5 storeys and to 75 bedrooms. The hotel is planned to be a Holiday Inn Express. Local butcher Tony Luckhurst is still due to return to a groundfloor shop on his old site in Melbourne Avenue and the Betfred betting shop will still be on the ground floor at the front of the building.When Tony will be able to return looks to be an open question. What puzzles me is the stop/start nature of the building works. I would have thought they would be cracking on with the work as quickly as possible but every now and then the site goes quiet and there’s no one to be seen. Maybe having to go back for permission to increase the size of the hotel is the reason for the delay but it would be good to see the work progressing on this important site.
I understand there have been some site problems. A number of us have seen workers not wearing hard hats and workers climbing up on high scaffolding without harnesses.Also demolition doesn’t really include pile driving and covering the site at a high level. Maybe LBE Building Control has actually kicked in and done it’s job!
Due to H&S reasons the Bright House shop and street below the planned demolition/construction has to be unoccupied,kind of not seeing that happening for a £££ while.Hey its Christmas soon.
There has been plenty of unoccupied business units locally ( 1 ) for traders to occupy while the hotel and associated business are built,maybe the hotel venture does not want a meat business in its ground floor,this area would be more value to the hotel as a car/taxi/mini coach drop off area.
From the info seen here there will not be any business on this site until at least April 2014 and the hotel and other business will open when they are ready.
LBE wake up.
Sunnie.
The new Planning Application (PP/2013/4506) is out for public consultation till the day after Boxing Day! The ‘Committee/Delegated Date ‘ is 2 February 2014. the new hotel will only reach 5 storeys at the Broadway end. As far as we know Tony Luckhurst butchers is still committed to reoccupying new retail space where he was previously. The site owner seemed keen to retain Tony as a tenant when I talked to him some months ago.