Weston-Super-Mare tower block application submitted to planners

Plans to build an eight-storey apartment block on the site of a former hotel in Weston-super-Mare have been submitted to the council.

Proposals for the former Royal Pier hotel site include 90 apartments, a bar/restaurant and retail units.

They have been met with opposition from residents who urged North Somerset Council to limit the height of any development.

The council confirmed it had now received the proposals.

The site is currently surrounded by hoardings following the demolition of The Royal Pier hotel that was substantially damaged by fires in 2009 and 2010.

CNM Estates owns the site and has drawn up the proposals alongside JLL Associates and Darling Associates Architects.

The application has been submitted under the name of Birnbeck Investment Limited.

The multi-storey building will include 90 "high-quality" residential units, ranging from one to three-bedrooms, a reception area and a communal roof terrace area.

It would also have 65 car parking spaces, with 20 at basement level, and there would be a new access from Birnbeck Road and Birkett Road.

The planning statement claimed benefits to the area would include the redevelopment of a prominent brownfield site that could act as "a catalyst" for the regeneration of the Birnbeck area and coastal walkway.

However, Birnbeck Conservation Group said the plans for an "eight-storey wall of windows" risked seeing "one of Weston's primary beauty spots and attractions damaged and disfigured without any just or sufficient cause".

A petition to scale back the development has been signed by more than 1,000 people with many claiming it will "ruin the seafront".

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