Issue - meetings

Application for the remodeling and extension of the existing hotel and spa to together with the siting of 39 holiday lodges, formation of outdoor activity zone, reception, biomass plant unit together with temporary construction traffic road, car parking and landscaping. 

LOCAL MEMBER: Councillor Beca Brown

Link to relevant background documents

DECISION: To refuse the application based on excess and the effect of this on the rural area, the number of cabins and the scale of the extensions to the hotel.

Application for the remodelling and extension of the existing hotel and spa together with the siting of 39 holiday lodges, formation of outdoor activity zone, reception, biomass plant unit together with temporary construction traffic road, car parking and landscaping.

Attention was drawn to the late observations form that highlighted that the plan now did not include erecting a building for staff accommodation.

Some Members had visited the site on 26/02/24 to familiarise themselves with the site and its surrounding landscape.

a)         The Planning Manager highlighted that it was a full application for the redevelopment of the Llwyn y Brain site, namely the disused Seiont Manor Hotel. The proposal would include,

·         extensions and remodelling of existing hotel to include a bar and restaurant with accompanying terrace; provision of 61 additional bedrooms, on top of the existing 33 bedrooms, and provision of spa facilities.

·         provision of 39 holiday lodges on land to the north-west of the hotel; the plan had been reduced since the original presentation to remove some units due to the visual impact on the wider landscape. Plans to erect a building for staff accommodation had also been removed as there was no justification for such a development in the countryside.

·         2 laybys/passing places along the driveway that currently served the hotel. Provision of 43 additional parking spaces parallel to the hotel. Landscaping work, creation of amenity spaces, mitigation and biodiversity enhancement work.

It was reported that several technical reports had been submitted with the application with a number of documents and observations reflecting the applicant's willingness to collaborate with the Local Planning Authority to ensure that harmful impacts would not derive from the development and that it would be possible to control them.

Considering the principle of the development, it was explained that the legal use of the site in planning terms was a hotel and Policies PS 14 and TWR 2 were supportive of proposals which involved extending visitor attractions and improving and protecting the provision for existing serviced and self-catering accommodation. It was also noted that holiday units were a development that could be supported in the countryside under Policy TWR 3 and, therefore, it could be concluded that the principle was acceptable.

In the context of extending the current hotel, it was noted that the hotel structure was a mix of single-storey and two-storey structure and, although accepting that the alterations were modern and major, it was considered that it was a quality development.

In support of the application, a Landscape and Visual Assessment had been submitted which noted that the hotel was located within an undulating landscape running down
towards the river in the vicinity of the site, which had also been surrounded by banks, shrubs and trees/woodlands. Whilst it was inevitable that the development would have an element of impact on the local landscape, such an impact would not be considered substantial and significant considering the design, nature and scale of extensions and alterations to the existing hotel; that part of the hotel was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11