Plans revealed for 44 flats behind former hotel

Plans have gone in for apartment blocks to be built behind a former hotel in Shrewsbury which is currently being converted into houses.

The proposals by SY Homes for the Lord Hill Hotel site in Abbey Foregate would see 44 flats built in two four-storey blocks.

It comes after the firm was granted planning permission earlier this year to strip back modern extensions to the Grade II-listed hotel building and turn it into three houses.

The latest application says the construction of the flats will follow the demolition of Wrekin Lodge, a 24-bed accommodation block built behind the hotel in the 1980s.

Areas of open space and 36 car parking spaces will be provided, with no parking provision for the eight eight flats classed as ‘affordable homes’.

A £58,500 contribution will also be made towards the delivery of affordable housing off-site.

A planning statement by Nigel Thorns Planning Consultancy, agent to the applicant, says the scheme aims to “make an efficient use of this previously developed brownfield site” and “respect the setting of the existing built development surrounding the site and the Rea Brook Valley Country Park to the south”.

It adds that the development will “preserve the character and appearance of the conservation area and nearby heritage assets.”

A heritage impact assessment prepared by Hampton Heritage Design and Consultancy says: “The existing building stock to the rear of the Lord Hill

Hotel makes a negative contribution to the conservation area, and detracts from the setting of the listed building.

“Regeneration of this plot provides the opportunity to enhance the listed building and the conservation area.”

The assessment goes on to say that the scheme could cause “very slight harm” to the setting of four nearby Grade II listed buildings, as well as “slight harm” to the former hotel building itself.

It says: “As new development within the conservation area, the removal of the unsightly extensions to the Lord Hill Hotel and Wrekin Lodge would enhance it, but the scale and design of the new apartment blocks would appear out of character, especially where they break the skyline.

“The assessment therefore concludes there would be very slight harm.”

It adds that this harm is “less than substantial” in planning terms, meaning it “should therefore be balanced against the public benefit of the proposed housing scheme”.

Four members of the public have already objected to the planning application while there has been one letter of support.

The application will be decided by Shropshire Council.

Constructed in the early 19th century as a single residence, the building first opened as a hotel in the 1960s.

It has been extended multiple times, including the addition of the front conservatory and Wrekin Lodge in the 1980s.

The hotel closed on New Year’s Day 2020.