Fresh proposals to transform the site of an historic hotel into seafront apartments have been unveiled.
Developers want to turn the former Cliff Hotel, in Dovercourt, into a complex of 46 apartments overlooking the North Sea.
Bought by the Dovercourt Cliff Hotel Company in the 1880s, the Victorian hotel was revamped and opened as the Cliff Hotel Pavilion.
Complete with a saloon bar, billiard room, ballroom and lounge, in its heyday, the hotel was an iconic site and attracted visitors from miles around.
It is the developer’s second attempt at revamping the site, in Marine Parade, after plans for a hotel and bar fell through.
Now, however, locals have voiced concern at a lack of parking at the site, which developers say will be reduced under the new plans.
Harwich Town Council has objected to the proposals, alongside more than a dozen concerned residents.
Carl Richardson, of the Cliff Hotel Trading Company, is behind the plans and feels the scheme will be a “vibrant addition to the town”, provide jobs and accommodation as well as becoming an iconic landmark visible by sailors from miles away in the North Sea - as it was in days gone by.
Original plans for the site, given the go-ahead three years ago, saw developers work with a national hotel operator but hopes faded when interest shifted to a project in the port area of town.
It meant a revised scheme - with the same art-deco design and facade as the previous one - has been put forward with reduced parking requirements of one space per flat, and without the hotel and bar.
“I am very excited to bring this site back to life and build something that will become an iconic landmark and bring a much needed boost to the local economy,” the developer added.
Lucy Ballard, town clerk at Harwich Town Council, lodged an objection to the plans on behalf of the authority.
This was largely on the basis that it considers the amount of parking associated with the development to be “inadequate” in an area where parking is already considered insufficient for neighbouring properties.
David Pearce, who lives nearby, raised concern that the new application proposes an extended rear building.
He fears this will result in “loss of light, overshadowing, overlooking and loss of privacy” to neighbours.
Developers say windows throughout the development have been located to minimise potential overlooking on both sections of the building.
The application will go before Tendring District Council’s planning committee in due course.
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