Proposals for an aparthotel to replace a hotel in Cornwall have been reduced in size following concerns aired by Historic England.

Applicant Co Situ8 Ltd has now asked for pre-application advice for the demolition of the existing the Griffin Hotel and pub on Cliff Road, Newquay, to be replaced with a 34-unit aparthotel with cafe and commercial space.

The original plan was for a 42-unit aparthotel across four to seven storeys. A design statement at the time of that application said the aparthotel units and associated development would be a “high-quality addition to the existing tourist accommodation stock in Newquay."

It went on to add: "The provision of this purpose-built aparthotel relieves some pressure on the existing housing stock in this area from potential second home owners and is a prime location for holidaymakers to use the aparthotel model."

Historic England says that revised proposals have “removed the harm that we previously identified would be caused to the Church of St Michael”.

In two letters sent to the council in 2023 the organisation raised no objection to the demolition of the existing building on the site and its redevelopment, but wrote: "However, we drew attention to the impact of the proposals on the significance of the Grade II* listed Church of St Michael.

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"We raised concerns that the proposed development would compete with the church for primacy in townscape views across Newquay, and be overbearing and out of scale intervention.

“We recommended that a meaningful reduction in height was made to address these concerns. The proposed building has now been reduced in height by two storeys from the original submission, and one storey from the last iteration that we provided comments on.

“Illustrative materials submitted identify that the development no longer introduces an eye-catching competitive feature in shared views with the Church of St Michael across the townscape. Therefore, the harm that we had previously identified has been significantly reduced or, potentially, removed.”

The Griffin Hotel is a family-run public house, hotel/ B&B/guesthouse with 15 rooms, which caters for weddings, parties and meetings/conferences for up to 50 delegates.

For further details see the pre-planning application bid on Cornwall Council's planning portal, under reference PA24/00974/PREAPP.