PLANS to build a 74 bedroom hotel in Falmouth Town centre were resubmitted to Cornwall Council earlier this month.

The proposals have provoked a fierce reaction, both from supporters and objectors.

Here, Rosemary Ridette-Gregory of the Fal and District Hotelliers Association explains their reasons for urging councillors to reject the plans; Despite so many objections being logged on the Cornwall Council planning portal last December, making the website crash repeatedly, Pearn and Proctor, a Plymouth based Architects, have again submitted plans for a 74 bedroom hotel, next to the Maritime Museum on Events Square.

A record breaking 250 local people and visitors to the town were all so appalled by the previous plans for this huge building on a very small current public car park, that they took the time and patience to battle with the Planning Department system and write to object to the development.

The application is on behalf of New Cornwall Developments, a company which despite the name, has few connections with Falmouth, its address being Bolton, Lancashire, and the plans have changed very little from the 2011 version.

Local tourism traders are again up-in-arms against the application, as they say that their own businesses will be put at great risk.

In the immediate area near the site, more than 20 bed & breakfasts may have to close, and this will also result in loss of jobs for others trades such as chambermaids, waitresses, painters and decorators, plumbers, gardeners, web designers, carpet fitters and cleaners, electricians and many more, who are essential for the holiday accommodation to keep up with safety and quality standards. These are often part time jobs and in today's current economic climate, very important for keeping local families above the poverty line.

About 100 jobs in the local industry have already been lost with the closure of the fire-devastated Falmouth Beach Hotel, where the damage is so severe that it is unlikely that it could re-open for two to three years.

The applicants say they will be creating jobs, but B & B and hotel owners have poured scorn on that idea, saying that chain hotels such as Premier Inn and their competitors, Travelodge, actually use facilities companies for their maintenance, and housekeeping jobs will be few and far between.

The Falmouth & District Hotels Association will be mounting a robust campaign to persuade their local councillors, who they say should be supporting local traders, that this development is not wanted in Falmouth.

The town prides itself on high quality, stylish accommodation, with emphasis on the very best of design, comfort, individuality and personal service, and has built a world-wide reputation over the past few years, with a big following of return visitors.

The FDHA will be using social-media and digital networking to encourage support for a NO vote from their elected representatives, and there is already a Facebook group devoted to keeping Premier Inn out of Falmouth.

They feel the building itself is far too big for the site, lacks design sympathetic to its surrounding Listed Buildings, and provides very few car parking spaces to compensate for the ones it removes from the town's supply - 74 bedrooms with spaces for only about 20 per cent of these, so the public car parks will be under even more strain.

There are never enough parking spaces in Falmouth anyway - this development takes away about 25 while creating a much larger demand; town centre traffic will get worse and visitors will turn away from Falmouth.

The Facebook page for local support is http://www.facebook.com/groups/250084211734739/ *The planning application is due to be discussed at a meeting of Falmouth Town Council’s planning committee next week.

The meeting, which is open to members of the public, will take place at the municipal buildings on The Moor on Monday, starting at 6pm.