MAJOR plans to redevelop a prominent Newquay hotel site is receiving support.

Newquay Town Council, Historic England, Devon and Cornwall Police’s architectural liaison officer and the Rambler’s Association have no objection to Nici Hotels (Newquay) Ltd proposals to upgrade and extend the Hotel Victoria to create 84 rooms.

The Nicholas James Group, which is behind the scheme, plans to demolish the Griffin Inn, Senor Dicks Mexican Restaurant, Berties Nightclub, O’Flanagans Bar and Berties Backpackers on the site and build 81 apartments with a commercial ground level unit.

The hotelier has worked with Cornwall Council‘s design review panel to come up with the planning application.

Drew Wrintmore, the managing director of Nicholas James Group, and David Jobbins, the planning consultant from Luken Beck acting on behalf of the hotelier, gave a presentation ahead of the town council’s planning meeting. They revealed the Hotel Victoria will be renamed if the plans get the go ahead.

The planning committee raised no objection to the scheme but highlighted concerns about the redevelopment’s proximity to the cliff, especially creating the under-croft car parking, and whether the scheme might have a negative impact on the Tramtracks and the adjacent buildings.

Mr Jobbins said: “The intention is to save the Hotel Victoria. It is a beautiful building, but it is in an extremely poor state of repair. It is incredibly dilapidated inside.

“The intention is bring the hotel back to life and make it a vibrant place as an asset to the town, which it isn’t at the moment unfortunately.

“The intention is to remove all the buildings from the site apart from the hotel and replace it with residential.

“The residential basically saves the hotel. It means we can invest heavily in the hotel and it save it for future generations.

“The two apartment buildings that would be either side would be intentionally set back from the front of the hotel. They would be significantly lower than the existing hotel building. There would be under-croft parking.

“The design review panel scrutinised this very heavily and we followed entirely their advice in terms of the design.

“I like the Griffin but it’s of its day and it turns its back on the tramway and there is not a lot of activity except for far back into the site.

“The scheme is making the best use of the corner by introducing ground floor activity that could be a café, restaurant or a food and drink shop with the apartments above that would be intentionally tiered back.

“That again is something the design review panel was very keen to see.”

Newquay Conservation Area group is opposed to the demolition of the original eastern wing of the Hotel Victoria, which is now the former Berties Nightclub, as it would constitute “heritage harm” but Historic England have raised no objections to the plan.

Mr Jobbins said: “This scheme relies on the residential. We are retaining the principal hotel building but importantly the Berties part of the original hotel has been extended and messed around with. It had lots of things added to it.

“We went to Historic England because they are the government body that rules on heritage assets. The hotel is a non-designated heritage asset.

“They looked at this and said we recognise what you need to do to bring this hotel back to life so raised no objections.

“Most people would rather see the hotel brought back to life. No residential. Everything hunky dory but unfortunately the commerciality and viability has to come into it.

“We also want to introduce a landscaped frontage, and we want to follow some of the historic photos we have of the hotel by reintroducing railings, the stone walling and the soft edge to the site, which it lacks at the moment.

“Also, the Dinard Garden is an asset for us and an asset for the town. The design review panel were keen for us to overlook the garden for that natural surveillance, which is currently doesn’t have. Perhaps make it safer and people will enjoy it more.”

Councillors raised concerns about plans to re-open the lift down to the beach over safety concerns due to a series of cliff collapses but the Nicholas James Group sees it as a “unique feature.”

Mr Jobbins said: “We want to restore the lift. To have that ready-made is so unique and would be a shame not to use it. I’ve not seen it in any other hotel. Safety is paramount and how we manage it.”

There would be 96 car park spaces created, which would include 60 residential and 36 for hotel guests.

Councillors raised questions whether that would be enough, but the Nicholas James Group said it intends to introduce a travel plan so that guests and residents use different modes of transport.

Councillor Joanna Kenny said: “There will be less parking that we would normally want but we have to accept that being in the centre of town and near the station, we would never win that argument with the Planning Inspectorate

“Personally, I am delighted at the work they propose to do to make the Hotel Victoria a topflight hotel, and though I regret the loss of the Griffin, I like their modern solution, far less dominating than previous schemes and will commercial units facing the street. Not so happy with the other blocks but I appreciate that these are needed to fund the overall works, and they will provide genuine housing at a price.

“I do regret that they are intending to change the name, which is not a planning issue, and I will be interested to see what Cornwall Council’s cliff specialists make of their intention to restore the lift within the cliff down to the beach. I made it very clear that I would not risk going in it.”

Cornwall Police’s architectural liaison officer has raised concerns about the layout of the development.

A spokesperson said: “There are no objections in principle to the proposed development. However, I do have some concerns with the layout from a designing out crime view.

“These potential concerns are certainly influenced by the sites location which is in the heart of Newquay town centre and its night-time economy. “My main issue is around the lower ground floor access control arrangements and how well this would work in terms of ensuring adequate security for this space.”

Cornwall Council will have the final say on the plans.