Analysis
Extensive analysis of the site and its wider context has informed the design development along with detailed pre-application discussions with the Local Authority and Historic England.
Planning Policy
The Imperial Hotel is located on the edge of Torquay Town Centre, straddling two Conservation Areas and overlooking Torbay. The hotel is in need of extensive investment to be retained as a viable luxury hotel for the future.
Torbay Local Plan and tourism policies seek investment in the core tourism and town centre area, where the Imperial is located, therefore there will be in principle support for hotel improvements. Furthermore, Torbay is short of housing land supply and must apply a ‘tilted balance’ in favour of new housing proposals, especially in brownfield, accessible locations such as the town centre.
The community aspirations of the Torquay Neighbourhood Plan to be ‘the best in the West’ are shared by Andrew Brownsword Hotels; where the Imperial Hotel is the ‘bookend’ at the north eastern end of the Core Tourism Investment Area of the town. Aligned with this is the communities wish to improve the ambiance of the area by changing unsustainable businesses to high quality uses with designs that are sensitive to local heritage.
The development of residential accommodation is not to be at the expense of the Imperial Hotel which will be redesigned with the sole purpose of being a sustainable, viable and beautiful luxury hotel and venue that will support the economic recovery of Torquay, with higher visitor spending and better long term employment opportunities.
The emerging proposals provide a dramatic visual improvement to the area, complying with landscape, townscape, heritage and design policies in the Local Plan based upon evidence gained from heritage, design, planning, landscape and arboricultural specialists.
Heritage
RPS
A detailed Built Heritage Statement has been researched and prepared to assess the potential impact on the historic built environment as a result of the proposed remodeling, extension and development of the Site. It identifies potentially affected heritage assets; assesses their significance, including the contribution made by their setting, where necessary; and the likely impact on their significance arising from the proposed development. The report has informed the architectural and landscape response to the development of the Site and will be submitted as part of the supporting information with the planning application.
Townscape
Lavigne Lonsdale
A Landscape/Townscape Visual Appraisal (LTVA) has been carried out to assess the Site and its wider context. It determines where potential landscape/townscape and visual effects may be experienced, the mitigation required and the potential effects of the development.
Access & Movement
PJA
An initial feasibility study found that the site was extremely well placed to enable local trips to be undertaken by foot or by bike, although there were gaps in the local footway network along Parkhill Road. The hotel is currently served by a single access from Parkhill Road which provides vehicle access to on-site car parks, the hotel forecourt and a single private dwelling. The layout requires service vehicles to pass the hotel entrance and undertake turning and reversing manoeuvres within the space shared with pedestrians and guests vehicles. The main access also forms part of the South West Coastal Path which passes along the hotels northern boundary. The main car park is laid out in an irregular fashion with a number of sub-standard spaces and accessed via a narrow ramp which is shared with pedestrians.
“Comprehensive research has been carried out on the site, and its broader context where it relates to the hotel... This information base reassures us that the proposals will emerge as an informed response to the context of the site, and heritage and other issues, rather than being an after-thought or post-design justification.”
— Historic England Pre-application Advice August 2020
Ecology
EAD Ecology
Detailed ecological surveys, including habitat surveys and bat roost surveys of buildings, have informed the development proposals. No over-riding ecological constraints were identified and the proposals provide the opportunity to deliver ‘biodiversity gain’ across the site. Low status bat roosts were identified in the hotel buildings; measures would be implemented under a Natural England Bat Mitigation Licence to ensure that no bats were harmed during work and that enhanced replacement roosting habitat would be provided. An Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) report will support the application, including details of the ecological baseline, assessment of development effects and an appropriate ecological mitigation and enhancement strategy.
Trees
Aspect Tree Consultancy
There are two Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) covering the site, one individual TPO for the large Lucombe Oak in the car park and a group TPO for a cluster of three Monterey Cypress along the coastal edge to the west of the hotel building. A tree survey has identified two category “A” trees, including the Lucombe Oak and a Monterey Pine located centrally in front of the hotel’s projecting central bay. These trees are considered of high quality and value capable of making a significant contribution to the area for 40 or more years and will be retained in the proposed redevelopment.
Flood Risk
Pitman Associates & Arup
Torbay is designated a Critical Drainage Area, where there is a need for surface water to be managed to a higher standard than normal to ensure new development will contribute to a reduction in flooding risks. The flood risk engineer has commenced a flood risk assessment for the site and is liaising with Arup’s civil and drainage engineers to establish the preferred method of managing surface water drainage on the site to ensure that any new surface water entering the drainage system is discharged as close as practicable to the equivalent of ‘green field’ run off rates, or discharged to the sea following appropriate treatment.