A hotel in a Herefordshire beauty spot plans to build a new 26-room extension to boost trade.
A Mr Rollinson has applied for outline planning permission to demolish an existing eight-room extension at the Royal Lodge Hotel, beside the river Wye at Symonds Yat, and replace it with a larger two- and three-storey structure.
Despite the owners’ investment in the hotel, a former hunting lodge, “the layout and quality and size of many of the rooms is now very tired”, a statement with the application says.
There has also been “low demand” to use the hotel as a wedding venue, despite extensive marketing and the opening of a new function room in 2015, while the mid-week conference market “has dwindled in recent years”, the statement adds.
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However the owners believe that occupancy rates “can be increased throughout the year, including increased demand for weddings, if a higher standard of accommodation were available”, it says.
Details of the extension's layout, scale, appearance and landscaping will be put forward in a future application if the outline plan is approved.
But the current application proposes a building of white render, natural stone and corten steel topped with a flat, planted roof. The large, westward-looking windows would maximise natural light and provide views across the river.
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“It is considered that the modest increase in traffic can be safely accommodated on the local highway network,” the application says.
If approved, the work would led to five more full-time and five part-time staff roles at the hotel, it adds.
Comments on the outline plan, numbered 231203, can be made until June 16.
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