Bath’s Liberal Democrat MP, Wera Hobhouse, has strongly come out against plans for a new hotel in the centre of the city, on the site currently occupied by Bath College’s former Allen Building.
A view of how the new hotel could look
Documents requesting permission to demolish the building, and replace it with a new hotel, were submitted to Bath & North East Somerset Council in January.
Wera Hobhouse said: “Enough is enough. Residents rightly feel that there are already too many big hotels in Bath.
“The interests of local people are coming second to those of the big companies wanting to build more and more hotels and turn Bath into Disneyland on Avon.
“We have to get the balance right between tourism, which is vital to Bath’s economy, and the needs of residents for a place to live and enjoy.
“On Wednesday the Council planning committee will be considering a proposal for a new hotel at Milk Street and I call on Councillors to reject this application because it’s a step too far.
A view of how the new hotel could look
“Local people are being squeezed out of the city by ever increasing housing costs. Using valuable central space for big commercial buildings such as this hotel will only makes it worse and should be opposed.”
In an open letter, the MP describes how the initial planning application has received over 160 objections from a wide variety of local residents, and that the recommendation from the chief planning officer was to reject the application.
Wera said: “Bath hoteliers and guesthouse owners, who have been united in their opposition to the proposal, are among the main opponents of the scheme, although there has been opposition from other groups in the city, not least the Federation of Bath Residents Association.
“Members of BIGHA are already reporting a downturn in occupation levels and REVPAR for various reasons over the last 8 months of 10% to 22% month on month.
“This information is currently being collated by Hotel Solutions commissioned by BANES but the overall picture will not be known for several months.
“A price war is in full tilt due to the current oversupply of tourist accommodation which threatens the financial viability of many small businesses owned and managed by residents of Bath.”
Harry Tedstone, Chair of Bath Independent Guesthouse Association, stated: “When we oppose a planning application for a new hotel, we freely admit that there is a vested interest for our members.
“However, for us to thrive we need Bath to thrive. This is the first time for many years that we have opposed an application for a new hotel; we have taken this step because this is not in the best interests of Bath as a whole.”
Robin Kerr, the Chairman of the Federation of Bath Residents’ Associations, added: “The problems in Bath are also evident in visitor destinations locations around the world: AirBnB properties operated as a business by commercial ventures, which are essentially unlicensed (and unregulated) hotels.
“It is a significant issue in planning terms and collecting the appropriate business rates. Similarly, larger properties let to groups of friends or family, often just over weekends, can also be a real source of noise nuisance and disturbance to nearby residents.
“When used as ‘party houses’ these unregulated properties also pose fire and other safety risks. B&NES needs to take action now, as we can see residents moving away from the city centre, where there are already 68 party houses offering, in aggregate, almost 900 bedspaces.
“With no-one living in these properties on a daily basis, the sense of community is evaporating, changing the character of our city, forever.”
Plans for the new 207 bedroom hotel will be going before B&NES Council’s Development Control Committee on Wednesday.
