IPSWICH Waterfront could get a new hotel in one of the best-known buildings beside the Wet Dock.East Anglian builder RG Carter has applied for planning permission to turn the John Good building, next to the Neptune Snooker Club, into a 40-bedroom hotel with conference facilities and a restaurant.

By Paul Geater

IPSWICH Waterfront could get a new hotel in one of the best-known buildings beside the Wet Dock.

East Anglian builder RG Carter has applied for planning permission to turn the John Good building, next to the Neptune Snooker Club, into a 40-bedroom hotel with conference facilities and a restaurant.

The company did not want to comment on the planning application – but confirmed that talks with a potential hotel operator were already well advanced.

The full planning application was today being processed by Ipswich council's planning department.

It would see the top floor of the current building removed and replaced with a further floor following the line of the rest of the building.

A pitched roof would be built on top of that with a conference centre and further bedrooms.

The entire seven-storey building would be similar in height and appearance to the Bellway flats nearby.

A spokesman for Ipswich council's planning department said it was too early to say what the attitude of officials would be to the application – which will probably be considered by the borough's development control committee during the spring.

In the new local plan, currently being considered by the borough, the site is earmarked for residential, leisure and business use – and a hotel would not conflict with that.

Although the building itself is not listed, it is in a conservation area so it will need special consideration by borough planners.