Hotel revises events space plans

Revised plans have been put forward to upgrade a hotel complex in Worcestershire, parts of which date back to the 17th Century.

Approval was given to The Lygon Arms, in Broadway, last year to create a new events building and additional guest suites with their own reception office.

The plans included the restoration of an early 20th Century garden maintenance store and an old piggery, as well as the hotel's kitchen gardens.

The work has started, but revisions to the design of the guest suites and events building have now submitted to Wychavon District Council.

"Like the earlier approval, they propose to restore and make beneficial use of the gardens and reuse some of the historic buildings on the site which have fallen into disrepair (such as the greenhouses, garden store and piggery) by providing a viable use for these buildings and the introduction of sensitively designed new buildings," the application stated.

The design of the guest suites has been simplified "to have a more traditional appearance" and the look of the events building has been changed, with the previously proposed timber cladding replaced by a greater use of stone.

Changes to other parts of the development revolve around how they will be accessed from other parts of the hotel complex and car park.

The previous scheme had attracted objections from a number of Broadway residents, who had concerns over highway safety on Back Lane and were worried about neighbouring properties being overlooked.

But planning officers said the development, which would create between 15 and 120 additional full-time equivalent jobs at the hotel, would support economic growth in the area.

They said it would "enhance the existing tourist offering within Broadway" and restore "undesignated heritage assets".

The latest plans state that overall, the proposed changes are "relatively modest".

"The proposed buildings are still located in the same areas of the site as the earlier approval (with some minor re-siting) and the scale of the development remains broadly the same.

"The proposal only seeks to make a number of small design and layout changes which would deliver the same economic and environmental benefits as the earlier scheme."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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