Plans submitted for 30 bedroom hotel in centre of Suffolk town

The plans would reinstate a hotel at 36 Buttermarket, which is currently occupied by one of two Waterstones book shops in the town and the recently closed Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

The site is Grade II listed and was formerly home to the Suffolk Hotel.

In the planning statement submitted to West Suffolk Council, developers Gatsby Retail Limited, say that despite Waterstones taking up some of the site, the majority of it is currently vacant.

The proposed plans for the hotel at 36 Buttermarket (Image: REDHEAD ARCHITECTS)

The proposed development would see the creation of a new entrance off High Baxter Street, the building of an atrium on the first floor and other alterations to turn the site back into a hotel.

There are no plans for any car parking to be provided — but the developers say they will encourage "more sustainable means of transportation" by providing cycle parking.

The proposed East Elevation of the hotel at 36 Buttermarket Street. (Image: REDHEAD ARCHITECTS)

According to the application, while the plans for the hotel would mean the loss of some shopping space they would retain "two good sized healthy" units, with the majority of the development going on above ground level.

"It is also worth pointing out that the current Waterstones premises offer a café facility, which would not be lost, but instead more formally incorporated into hotel complex," the application goes on to state.

The Buttermarket and former Suffolk Hotel. (Image: Andy Abbott)

According to the heritage statement submitted as part of the plans, the front of the building dates back to the late 15th century and was part of an inn called 'Le Greyhounde'.

The building was extensively remodelled in the 1830s and was renamed the Suffolk Hotel. It was known by this name until the hotel closed in the 1990s.