‘Don’t ignore us over hotel plans’ – Crown and City Centre Community Council claims it was not consulted by Highland Council over proposed £30 million 155-bedroom Courtyard By Marriott development on the site of the Ironworks music venue in Inverness
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A community council is the latest organisation to give its views on a proposed new hotel development for Inverness city centre.
As previously reported the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland’s (AHSS) Highlands and Islands Cases Panel has objected to the proposal by Bricks Group to redevelop the Ironworks live music venue site in Academy Street to create a new £30 million 155-bedroom Courtyard By Marriott hotel.
Crown and City Centre Community Council has now also formally commented on the plans as well as querying why its views did not appear to have been actively sought by Highland Council planners.
In its statement a spokesman said: “The community council has considered the above application and there are different views on the acceptability of the proposal.
“It was anticipated that the community council would have been formally consulted on an application of this nature in the town centre but that did not transpire?
“There is considerable regret that this will result in the loss of the Ironworks with no obvious replacement which will be a loss of a significant live music venue and detrimental to diversity of uses in the town centre.”
The spokesman added that there were concerns the proposal would overdevelop the site and added: “If this is approved there may be an uncertain outcome, in terms of development proceeding, given the extant permission for a hotel on the partly adjacent site on the decked car park adjacent on Rose Street.
“There is also some concern regarding the appearance of the building and what will become a visually dominating structure at this end of Academy Street, albeit close to the Rose Street car park and other modern buildings.
“This will clearly be a major issue given the reasons for the previous refusal but one on which there will be varying opinions and which the planning authority will have to reconcile.”
Bricks says the hotel would
accommodate up to 100,000 visitors a year, providing a major boost for the area with jobs created both during the construction phase and once the hotel is operational.
A spokesman for the company said: “We have been extremely open in progressing and finalising our application, including voluntarily presenting design proposals to the council’s expert Design Review Panel, and then again, having taken their comments on board.
“We anticipate a positive recommendation from the panel.
“The formal consultation process was for Highland Council to undertake.
“For our part, we emailed the community council with notice of our original PAN (proposal of application notice) and we also invited them to our two public consultation events. They did not reply or attend. The area behind Rose Street, which is where the bulk of the hotel will be located, is where the council wishes to see modern architecture in the city centre, which includes accepting height.”
They said that the loss of the Ironworks was not considered a planning issue and the plan should be judged on its own merits.
