A CONTROVERSIAL application to build a 74 bedroom hotel in the centre of Falmouth has been resubmitted to planners at Cornwall Council.

If given the green-light, the Premier Inn will be built on the site of the Campbeltown Way car park adjacent to Events Square.

The original plans, submitted to Cornwall Council in November last year, were withdrawn after a storm of protests over the scheme, with more than 240 objections lodged with the council.

Arguments against the scheme included fears the plans would cause parking chaos in the area, and that the hotel would be damaging to existing businesses in Falmouth.

The new plans, resubmitted to the council in the last few days, would see 24 covered car parking spaces created on the ground floor in a move to allay the fears of objectors.

However, the new plans have already attracted criticism, with nearly 40 complaints lodged since the proposals appeared online last Thursday.

One typical comment, submitted by Janey Davis, read: “I am saddened that after this application has been turned down once, it is being re-submitted when there was a very obvious objection from so many in Falmouth.

“Our town would suffer as a result of this going ahead, putting pressure on the B&B's especially. Do not let this application go ahead.”

Hoteliers in Falmouth were mainly opposed to the scheme when contacted by the Packet.

Geoff Cumins of the Grove Hotel said: “There may be a need for a Premier Inn, but many weekends there is no parking at all this end of town”

“People will want to find parking, we watch streams of cars going around looking for about an hour”

“Why don’t they take over a hotel going on the market out of town?”

Gillian Appleyard of the Anacapri Hotel was also concerned about parking.

She said: “There is not enough parking as it is, the hotel would be taking away more spaces”

“In the Easter to summer period, people complain that they can’t park”

“I am in favour of more hotels, as we need people in the area, but Premier Inn is not right for Falmouth. It is just the wrong thing for the area”

“However, I don’t think that it would affect my business personally, it’s nothing to do with that, I am always busy anyway and have been for 15 years.”

Martyn Cleave of the Cotswold House Hotel said: “We don’t want cheap rooms in Falmouth, we do not want another Newquay, there is a certain standard here.

“Even though there is a large student population it is not about getting as drunk as possible”

“Premier Inn will have to make sure that they maintain a price decorum, to stop an increase in people who want a cheap boozy night.”

Richard Gates, Falmouth town manager, said: “It is not surprising that the application has been resubmitted but the view point has not changed.

“There is real concern that there will be a negative impact on existing businesses as well as the constraints on car parking, then there is the impact on the actual location itself.”

To view the plans, or to make comments on the scheme, visit Cornwall Council’s website at www.cornwall.gov.uk and search for reference PA12/04039.