Disused indoor market could make way for hotel

A former shopping arcade that is empty and "in a sorry state" could be turned into a hotel.

If plans are agreed, Colwell Shopping Centre in Weymouth - also known as School Street Plaza - would be demolished and replaced with a 70-room budget hotel.

The proposal has been amended since it was first tabled in 2022. Previous applications for the site have included flats.

Dorset councillors will consider the outline application on Thursday.

Responding to the application, conservation officers said the existing building was "absent of any historic value" and had a "negative impact" on the appearance of the conservation area.

Economic development and tourism officers said: "If it displaces some older hotels, it will both improve the visitor offer and enable some older hotels to revert to housing, which is desperately required.

"Our service would want to encourage tourists, we do not want to encourage homes being turned into holiday accommodation, and this sort of development helps meet that ambition."

Ward councillor Jon Orrell previously said the site had "not worked as an indoor shopping centre" and was "in a sorry state".

He said: "A well-developed new building should be an improvement on the current run-down site."

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