Quality flats plan for decaying hotel

Owners Princess Hotels Management Group want to pull down the former Sea Road hotel and use the site for an up-market 30-flat complex.

And despite a previous outline planning application for flats being refused in March, officers are currently having informal discussions with the owner.

Les Robinson, Rother District Council s chief planning officer, said he was anticipating a detailed application in the near future.

We refused an application in March this year. It was outline for a block of flats and demolition of the Grand Hotel. It was refused because it had not been

demonstrated that the proposed development would conserve or enhance the conservation area.

We are now discussing a plan submitted for a replacement building. These are informal discussions, not binding to the local authority. Once an applications has been made it will be considered and an unbiased decision made at commiittee.

Policy in a conservation area is that unless you are satisfied that the building to replace it is something as good or better, then it must be refused. We do not want a vacant site once the building has gone with no firm proposals about what will go in its place.

Mr Robinson said they were satisfied in March that it would be very difficult to fund conversion of the old building because of the value recovered from converted units and the cost of conversion.

The former 52-bedroomed hotel has been slipping into a state of decay since it closed at Christmas 1999.