Hotel expansion plans rejected and branded ugly

Plans to knock down a hotel and rebuild it with an extra 33 bedrooms and a 72-seat restaurant have been rejected after a council branded it a "monstrosity".

Premier Inn had wanted to get rid of the existing complex in Brighton Road, Burgh Heath, Surrey, but its plans were thrown out by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.

Council officers had recommended the project, believing it would support tourism and said there were "no substantive grounds to refuse" it.

But Conservative councillor Sam Walsh told the meeting he was disappointed the original hotel had ever been approved and called it a "blot on the landscape".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said: "It is an ugly building, vastly out of scale with the adjoining properties, it's a three-storey monstrosity.

"What was put there is the '70s was pretty bad, what they are proposing to replace it is even worse.

"It is stark, it is ugly, it is out of character."

Conservative councillor Michael Blacker agreed, saying: "It's an appalling design."

Planning papers in favour said: "The proposal would... provide economic benefits to the local economy both during and post-construction.

"These factors carry significant weight in favour of the application. There are therefore considered to be no substantive grounds to refuse the application."

A motion put forward by Walsh to reject the application was supported by 12 members.

It said the plans should be turned down due to the hotel's sheer size being out of keeping with the area, and the impact the larger car park and lighting would have on neighbours.

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