Ambitious plans to redevelop one of Falmouth’s most iconic hotels have been praised by a councillor as “something that works really well” for the town.
The plans to alter the Greenbank Hotel to include 30 new rooms were considered at a meeting of Falmouth Town Council’s planning and licensing committee last night (June 10).
The owners of the Greenbank on Harbourside, The Cornwall Hotel Collection, who are also the new owners of the Falmouth Hotel, says the current lay-out is old and tired and needs improvement.
Giving a presentation of the plans to the committee, company representative Chloe Kier said the landscape officer and the heritage officer are content with the proposals There were no comments of objection to the application since it had been lodged with Cornwall Council and the plans did not go against the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NPD).
“The hotel will remain for the community and will not become exclusive and out of reach for locals,” she said. “It is part of the town and it will continue to be so. The proposals will secure the hotel for the future and preserve it for future generations to come.”
Questioned by Cllr Zoe Young on what the hotel had incorporated into the plan to guard against rising sea levels and flooding, she said the Environment Agency required the floors and electricity sockets to be at a certain level if it were to flood, but this was not predicted.
She added that a living roof would be created to increase bio-diversity and solar panels would be incorporated where they could.
Praising the application, Cllr John Spargo said: “We’ve seen some rubbish designs from various other groups in town, but these are by far the best we have seen and I consider it does improve the area, which is very rarely the case. They should be congratulated for what they have done.
“They have come up with something that works really well for the town.”
His praise was echoed by Cllr Alan Jewell who said it was nice to have an application come before the council that was a really good scheme. “I think it’s a nice scheme,” he said. "I think it sits in really well.”
Councillors recommended approval for the application.
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The proposed development provides an overall additional 30 bedrooms, whilst retaining the current hotel footprint and no increase to the overall height of the building.
It also includes the relocation or the conference/events suite to a new purpose-built restaurant and events area in the waterfront location. The remaining space will be converted to new hotel bedrooms.
The current under croft parking area would be removed and converted to further bedrooms and admin offices.
In addition, the proposed development includes a new level access to reception and facilities for accessible parking close to the hotel. An additional new parking area is proposed to the north side of the hotel along North Parade.
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