Changes to Captain Club’s Hotel and Spa planned multi-million revamp not enough say Christchurch town council

AMENDMENTS to a multimillion-pound plan for a riverside hotel in Christchurch are not enough to solve problems the changes would cause to the local area, the town council has said.

At a planning meeting councillors agreed to reject new suggestions by developers of the Captain’s Club Hotel & Spa, which were aimed at satisfying concerns about the hotel “dominating” the riverfront and causing nuisance to nearby residents.

It said the revised proposal had not “effectively addressed the objections that were previously raised by the town council”.

In June the town council objected to a revised application from the hotel saying the “massing of the proposal would not be compatible with the landscape and heritage characteristics of the riverside and the conservation area”.

At its latest meeting the council decided to add another objection.

Minutes revealed: “A town centre ward member expressed concerns over the proposal’s adverse impact on car parking and increased traffic congestion; noise disturbance; and detrimental effect to the amenity of neighbouring residences due to overlooking and loss of privacy.

“She stated that the revised proposal had not effectively addressed the objections that were previously raised by the town council.”

It was resolved that Christchurch Town Council object on the grounds the developer had not made “sufficient changes to the proposal to meet the council’s previous objections”.

The plans have already been rejected by BCP Council which said adding the extra storey to the hotel and an extension would make it too big despite tourist bosses backing the application saying it would turn the hotel into a “world class offering”.

There have been more than 100 objections to the application, with many Creedy Drive residents saying that the extra storey and changes to current porthole windows at the rear of the building would lead to their loss of privacy.

A BCP planning officer had recommended the application be approved saying the hotel would not be a “visually intrusive building” but both BCP and Christchurch town council disagreed.

Previously Peter Lamb for Savills Planning, acting on behalf of the hotel, said the changes to the hotel would benefit the local economy by giving it “high-quality accommodation and contribute to Christchurch being a fantastic place to visit”.

FiveMDevelopments are involved in the plans for the third storey and rear extension which would add 29 new bedrooms and seven new luxury suites at the hotel.

In the hotel’s initial application submitted in December 2022 the suites were overlooking the river but after a public consultation the third storey was “stepped back to minimise the visual impact”.

In a new application submitted in June, cladding of the new storey was also changed from dark grey to “much lighter” aluminium colour. Turrets which featured on the first application were also scrapped.

Some residents living near the hotel say that if allowed the new additions would cause noise nuisance and light pollution and affect their quality of life.

There are also concerns about increased traffic to the hotel and possible parking problems.