Inverness Premier Inn site’s planned 40-bedroom expansion won’t overwhelm car parking and spill onto A82, owner WHitbread tells Highland Council
A major hotel expansion which would make it more than double its original capacity will reduce car parking at the site but still be ample, a leading UK chain has claimed.
Premier Inn’s parent company Whitbread lodged plans last year for a new 40-bedroom annexe building at the hotelier’s Inverness West site, which sits on the A82 on Glenurquhart Road.
If approved, the new annexe, which would be separate from the existing building, would be built atop part of the hotel's current car park.
The move would increase its capacity from its current 130 bedroom layout to one featuring 170 rooms - more than double the 76 bedrooms it originally had before erecting its last extension in 2019.
However, while the new annexe will result in the loss of 17 of its current 175 car parking bays, the former Beefeater restaurant at the site has shuttered its doors to the public since its last big expansion.
The former Beefeater had been a very popular eatery with residents and tourists prior to its closure in July last year - with many travelling to and from the site in their own vehicles.
And Premier Inn argues that the move to reserve the former Beefeater restaurant for the use of hotel guests only means that demand for hotel parking bays will not outstrip its revised capacity of 158 vehicles.
They added that traffic surveys at the hotel carried out at the request of Highland Council's transport team had shown that even at, or close to peak capacity, not all guests bring a vehicle with them.
"[During the survey’s peak] a total of 127 hotel rooms were occupied on the Tuesday night, equating to 0.87 parked vehicles per occupied hotel room.
"Applying the 0.87 ratio to the proposed 170 bedrooms (i.e. the total post-extension) results in an equivalent peak demand for 147 spaces, therefore leaving 11 spare from the 158 total."
They continued: “It should be noted that typical observed parking demands across the seven days [of the survey] ranged from between 70 to 90 cars, with similar high room occupancy levels on several of the days.
"The assessment above can therefore be considered a reflection of ‘peak’ demands. It is therefore considered that the proposed provisions for car parking are sufficient to accommodate the additional bedrooms."
The provision of the survey by Whitbread’ agents, and the clarification of the number of car parking bays that will remain after the annexe is constructed, came after council planners issued a holding objection to the scheme last year.
They argued that there was not enough information about the impact of the expansion on traffic entering and exiting the site from the busy A82 trunk road.
And they also raised concerns over discrepancies in the submitted material, with the applicant contradicting themselves as to exactly how many parking bays would remain - with drawings of the layout initially showing only 147 spaces but supporting documents stating there would be 171 instead.
The new traffic and hotel occupancy survey and clarification that there will be 158 bays were submitted by Whitbread's agents in response to those points.
It is not yet known if they will be sufficient to end the council transport team’s holding objection to the plans.
Find out more about planning applications that affect you at the Public Notice Portal.
