Travelodge is eyeing up a site in Bury St Edmunds as an application is made to open a new hotel with 80 bedrooms next to a new drive-thru Starbucks café.
The four-floor hotel would be close to the town’s Tesco superstore, just off Etna Road, and is hoped to boost the number of hotel rooms in Bury – an area in which the town has been lacking in recent years.
NHP Holdings is the company behind the scheme, which bought the proposed site, Tartan House, last year from Taylor Wimpey, which uses it for offices.
Most of the traffic would use Etna Road to access the café and hotel, although there are also proposals for a second car park on the other side of the River Lark, close to the railway line, which would also mean a new entrance created off Compiegne Way.
The move has already sparked concern among nearby residents who live down the cul-de-sac of Etna Road.
One resident asked: “Will the road access onto Compienge Way be improved to accommodate the inevitable increase in traffic?”
Another said: “Parking is at a premium for residents of Etna Road and Ramplin Close, and while provision is made for 80 spaces for the hotel, I feel this is reliant on no staff parking at the site, and if the hotel is full everyone turning up in just one car each.”
Tartan House, the building that will be replaced, already has planning permission to be turned from offices in 23 flats.
“Whilst practically possible, the existing building is not the most appropriate for retention and as such the applicant has been considering various options for the more comprehensive redevelopment of the site, for both residential and hotel uses, culminating in the proposals forming this application,” said NHP Holdings in its application.
“The proposal for the hotel use is considered to be more appropriate for Bury St Edmunds, on the basis that it will provide the town with much-needed additional visitor accommodation in this ideal location with its appropriate connections to the town and the transport link.”
A new pedestrian bridge is also planned to be built over the River Lark to allow people to move back and forth between the second car park. To view the plan in full and comment, visit www.westsuffolk.gov.uk and search for DC/17/0438/FUL.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here