Drugs den cleared for homes in hotel grounds

Derelict stores behind the Royal Norfolk Hotel also will be demolished to make way for the 13 mews dwellings.

An existing accommodation building on the land will be converted as well as part of the redevelopment for the one and two bedroom cottages. Each will have a front garden and parking and be arranged in a courtyard. Tom Elliott, of developer Herongate Land and Developments, told councillors the land had become rundown.

'At the present time, these buildings are derelict and have been used as a rubbish tip for many years.

'The area is infested with rats and sadly has become a place for anti-social behaviour.

'Syringes and evidence of drug and alcohol abuse are frequently found there with the rubbish those people leave behind,' he stated.

He vowed the housing had been designed to enhance its location next to the early 19th century hotel, a grade two listed building, and in the heart of a conservation area.

The redevelopment fitted the overall mood of regeneration in Bognor, especially along the sea front. He continued: 'This scheme is a massive step forward in regeneration. These homes will improve the quality of the area for all the residents who live nearby.'

His remarks were welcomed by Arun District Council's development control committee last week.

Councillors decisively backed the proposals for the site off West Street at Wednesday's meeting.

Cllr Sylvia Olliver (Bersted) said: 'This will definitely improve the area.'

It was important that any new development blended in with the hotel.

She explained: 'The hotel itself has been extended over the years but you would not know unless you stood and looked very closely.'

Cllr Jacqueline Maconachie (Aldwick West) said she welcomed the plans and the work Herongate had put into the scheme.

But her concerns about the access from the proposed properties on to busy West Street had failed to be answered.

Council planning officer Keith Wheway said the entrance road to the housing would be about twice as wide as the current access road to the site next to the entrance to Norfolk Square. It had been backed by county highways engineers.

He assured councillors that only materials which blended in with the hotel's appearance would be permitted for the homes.

The committee's approval ended an intense three year period of seven applications to create housing in the hotel's grounds.

The past applications, by several developers, either had been rejected by the council and planning inspectors or withdrawn by the applications.

But they mostly involved building extra housing on the hotel's old tennis courts alongside its West Street boundary. This was ruled unacceptable because it would interfere with the distinctive view of the hotel from the seafront.

However, the principle of building behind the hotel alone had been accepted by one of the inspectors when listed building consent for the change had been granted in 2005.

Both the land behind the hotel and the old tennis grounds are owned by the hotel's previous occupiers and not the current operators, the Christ for the Nations UK charity.

Objections to the Herongate scheme had been made by Bognor Regis Town Council and one other objector. They opposed the clash of modern with historic buildings and were worried about the access. Two letters of support for the plans were also received by Arun.