Not surprised to see hotel bid resurface: with Poll (From Falmouth Packet)

Not surprised to see hotel bid resurface

3:25pm Wednesday 27th June 2012 in Skipper

So, the row over plans to build a Premier Inn in the heart of Falmouth town centre is alive and kicking once more.

To be honest, the reappearance of the proposals shouldn't have come as much of a surprise to anyone.

Having seen the strength of the objections to the original plans, the developers were always going to go away and come back with new ideas to ensure the hotel can get through the planning system.

The same issues remain, however, and it is easy to sympathise with existing hotels and bed and breakfasts who fear the competition the new complex will bring could spell disaster for them.

There are also extremely understandable concerns over parking problems in the already congested town centre, with an extra 74 bedrooms being built on the site of a car park.

Yet at the same time, the business case to build a new hotel in the town can also be easily understood.

Premier Inn will offer affordable accommodation with a guaranteed level of quality, and could help attract more visitors to the town, as well as creating more jobs for the area.

My big issue with the plans though involves neither car parking nor the competition for local businesses.

No, my fear is over how the development will fit in with its immediate surroundings.

As it will sit in the very heart of the tourist zone, the gateway to the town for those arriving by train or cruise ship, then unless the design is sympathetic to the buildings around it these plans should not be given the go-ahead.