Hotel site approved for homes

Approval has been given for homes on the derelict Robin Hood Hotel site in Newark despite calls for a rethink over the scheme by the chairman of Newark Town Council planning committee, Mr Peter Foster.

He told Newark and Sherwood District Council planning committee on Tuesday that the town council opposed plans for the demolition of extensions at the hotel to make way for 48 new flats and the conversion of the rest of the building into three homes.

The application by M. F. Strawson Ltd was given approval by the planning committee five years ago but that lapsed and needed to be renewed.

Mr Foster said the scheme was not good enough for the site. There were also concerns that there were not enough parking spaces.

He said there were many concerns about the congestion in the area which, he said, would get worse if the planned expansion of 5,000 homes west of the town went ahead.

“There are a lot of people in Newark who would like to see the whole hotel cleared to improve the junction,” he said.

The Ancient Monuments Society agreed with the town council about the design of the building and said that they would like it to be re-examined.

But district and town councillor Mrs Marika Tribe said the ideas to convert the protected part of the hotel would provide the scheme with some interesting architectural texture.

“This is an eyesore at the moment and needs sorting out.

“I feel it is time for action,” she said.

“I agree there could be some parking problems, but they can be overcome.”

Newark Civic Trust supported the application providing that all the conditions imposed when the application was first approved be continued.