Council recommended to knock back Royal High hotel plans
City planners have recommended councillors knock back a controversial application to turn the old Royal High School into a luxury hotel
Planning chiefs said the scaled-back plans for the £75 million hotel would have an adverse impact on the special character of the listed building.
The report, published today a week before councillors will debate the proposal, stated: “The quantum of development is excessive and the design does not achieve the world class architectural response required of this site.
“The resulting harm caused by the proposed extensions significantly outweighs the economic benefit and benefit of bringing the building back into long-term use.”
The idea of turning it into a hotel won a council-run design contest in 2010, but the final plans sparked anger when it emerged they involved multi-storey extensions.
Councillors rejected the initial plans in 2015 but the number of hotel rooms has been lowered from 147 to 127 and the extensions lowered.