Felixstowe hotel set for transformation
A DERELICT former seafront hotel is set to be demolished this year to make way for a new complex of shops, restaurant, holiday flats and homes.
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FELIXSTOWE: A derelict former seafront hotel is set to be demolished this year to make way for a new complex of shops, restaurant, holiday flats and homes.
After months of negotiations - centring on worries over flooding risks - the project is finally set to get the go-ahead next week.
Thornlane Homes wants to bulldoze the old North Sea Hotel, in Sea Road, Felixstowe, getting rid of an eyesore which has stood boarded up and empty for five years since it was last used as a nightclub.
The plan is to replace it with a restaurant and shops on the ground floor, with 14 flats and three holiday lets above.
The town council accepts the redevelopment but wants to see more holiday use.
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“The retention and re-provision of bed spaces is a major long term objective of the regeneration of the resort,” said the council.
“The site has the potential for redevelopment for hotel accommodation and this needs to be considered.”
Suffolk Coastal - which is set to approve the scheme next week - said the building is in “significant disrepair” and would need substantial investment to upgrade it to economic use.
“Given the derelict nature of the existing building on the site and the length of time it has been in this state, there is perhaps some merit in seeking the regeneration of the site as soon as possible,” said case officer Michaelle Coupe.
The developers say they cannot provide the necessary amount of social housing because the scheme will be unviable and may be required to pay towards providing this elsewhere.
Flooding from the sea is a concern but the flats would be on upper floors and not at immediate risk from floodwater.
Is it a good use for the site? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
