Winter Gardens Hotel approved by planners

Wednesday, 11 December 2024 14:03

By Shelagh Parkinson

Plans to build a new hotel alongside Blackpool’s Winter Gardens complex have finally received full approval after landscaping concerns were resolved.

The scheme for a five-storey development with 266 bedrooms had stalled after councillors deferred making a decision at their meeting in November.

But after the applicant came back with revised proposals for the tree planting including a commitment to pay £26,000 towards off-site tree planting, the council’s Planning Committee gave the go ahead for the investment.

Planning permission was already in place but developers had been seeking consent for reserved matters, which includes important design details for the site.

The updated proposals include planting trees in the ground along Leopold Grove, Alfred Street and Adelaide Street. Hopes of putting 26 ornamental trees in planters at first floor level were dashed as they would be too heavy.

Instead the applicant agreed to pay £26,000 towards off-site tree planting. However the first floor planters will be retained and used for shrubbery instead.

The land, which is owned by Blackpool Council, has been used as a car park in recent years. But it is now hoped developers C1 Capital Partners Ltd and Mottrom Estates can begin work soon. Their brands include Hilton London Olympia and a Mercure hotel in Northampton.

Architects Studio Moren says in a design statement it has used strong facade geometry to “achieve a contemporary building of its time and place” including a corner feature on the junctions of Adelaide Street with Leopold Grove, and Adelaide Street with Alfred Street.

Regeneration chiefs believe having a modern hotel next to the Winter Gardens is key to attracting larger conferences to the venue including its £30m Conference and Exhibition Centre which officially opened in March 2022.