PLANS have been lodged for renovation work at part of a former Rothesay hotel which would see 12 residential units installed.
The upper floors of the former Royal Hotel, on Albert Place, are the subject of applications for planning permission and listed building consent to Argyll and Bute Council by George Hanson (Building Contractors) Ltd.
A full internal fit-out and shopfront alterations also form part of the plans, which the council’s planning officers are expected to rule on by early December.
The public can now view the plans and submit feedback to the council as part of the planning process.
In a design statement, planning agents ZM Architecture said: “The proposals comprise the residential conversion of the upper floors of the building to create 12 dwellings. The ground floor will remain in commercial use.
“The residential conversion will extend across the upper three floors, which originally formed the hotel accommodation, providing a mix of one- and three-bed flats.
“Of the 12 proposed dwellings, seven will be provided as mainstream residential units, with five retained by the Applicant as managed accommodation. The existing roofscape will be retained, with no conversion of the attic space proposed.
“Presently there are no prospective tenants for the commercial units, and they are not actively being marketed. The ground floor commercial proposals are therefore intended to provide flexibility for future occupiers, rather than to identify a specific end user or operator at this stage. Further planning permissions may therefore have to be obtained depending on future tenant requirements.”
The statement added: “The proposed residential conversion represents a significant reduction in the notional parking requirement when compared with the previous hotel use.
“On the basis of the available evidence, the former hotel use generated a minimum requirement of 24 spaces, compared with four spaces for the proposed residential development. This represents a reduction in the notional parking requirement of at least 20 spaces.
“The redevelopment proposal to not include any allocated off-street car parking are therefore justified on the basis of a significant de-intensification of car parking allocation when compared the previous hotel use.”
To view the plans and submit feedback, visit the council’s planning portal at argyll-bute.gov.uk and use the reference number 26/01661/PP or 26/01663/LIB.
