Latest plans to redevelop fire-hit hotel approved

Councillors have approved plans to restore a former hotel after it was gutted by fire almost a decade ago.

Exeter City Council voted on Monday to back the latest plans for the Royal Clarence Hotel after the blaze in October 2016.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said permission was granted in October 2022 to the previous owners of the site for 25 new apartments, with some costing up to £1m.

Planners were asked to consider the latest proposals, which come with a set of conditions including handing over more than £2m towards local affordable housing projects.

Council officers said the proposals created substantial public benefits by redeveloping a derelict site in the heart of the city centre.

A report to the meeting said: "The proposal will revitalise this corner of Cathedral Green."

The developers, Nooko, said it was a "complex bit of engineering" but progress at the site was "moving fast".

Planners said some of the burnt timbers left over from the 2016 blaze would be kept as a "reminder" of the hotel's history.

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