Guernsey Press

Permission given for houses to be built on hotel car park

A HOTEL car park can now have three houses built on it, with guests instead using Cobo coastal car parks and eight spaces on the hotel site, after planning permission was granted.

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This land in Rue de Bouverie, Castel, which has been a car park for Cobo Bay Hotel since 2013, will now have three houses on it. The car park permission was given with the proviso that it revert to being a field if not needed for parking. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 29290952)

But parish officials expressed concerns that this might put strain on local parking.

The move comes just eight years after the planners approved a car park on the green field site, on the proviso it be returned to agricultural use if it was no long needed by the Cobo Bay Hotel.

Nut Tree Ltd has now applied to build three 1.5-storey dwellings on the car park in Route de Bouverie.

The site owner said the parking spaces were no longer needed by the hotel.

The planning report said that the land, which was not owned by the same entity as the hotel, was no longer required due to the capacity of the hotel and the provision of parking in association with it.

The applicant said there were eight spaces at the hotel, with access to public coastal car parks nearby.

They also noted that the hotel guests found the current car park less convenient than the nearby public car parks.

Castel constables raised concerns about the plans.

‘The site in question was originally an open field, planning approval was given [in 2013] to service Cobo Bay Hotel residents following the permanent loss of available parking for guests in the car park serving patrons of the Rockmount,’ they said in the planning report.

‘Given the limited provision for parking in the general area, we question what impact the loss of hotel parking as proposed will have on the local area.’

There were also seven letters of objection sent to the planners. They noted that the creation of the car park had resulted in the loss of rare green space in the area and if it was no longer needed for parking, it should revert to being a field.

There were also concerns about how overcrowded public car parks in the area were and queries about how a hotel could operate with limited parking.

The States Marketing & Tourism section said the loss of the parking would be minimal and not impact on the viability of the hotel.

The planners did accept that the original application was approved on the condition that if the car park was no longer required, the land would revert to a grassed field.

But in the latest planning report they said the area had dense development and that meant it was hard to argue the open space was ‘critical to the character and appearance’ of the road.

They also highlighted that the small size of the field meant future agricultural potential would be limited.

‘On balance, the characteristics of the site and surrounding area are such that any impact on openness or loss of agricultural land would be insufficient reasons to justify refusal of planning permission,’ the report said.

The planners noted the houses proposed would fit in with the area.