Readers will remember that earlier this year the Hambrough Group (preferred bidders for the Ventnor Winter Gardens) were given conditional planning permission to redevelop the iconic Ventnor cliff-top venue.
The revised application comes as a result of full site survey being carried out subsequent to planning approval. This has resulted in a change in the location and footprint of the planned hotel wings, as well as a reduction in the number of hotel bedrooms.
The site provided more accurate information in relation to the position of the existing Pavilion within the site boundary. Compared with the previous assumptions, the existing building is located slightly further to the west of the site.
The additional information about the retaining walls on the North West corner of the site and the sloping ground and retaining walls to the East of the site shows that the extent of these walls and of the existing slip are larger than previously assumed and the available space for the extensions is therefore smaller than in our initial proposals.
In reaction to these new findings both the east and the west extension wings have been slightly repositioned further away from Alexandra gardens and their footprint has been reduced. The revised proposal now contains 34 bedrooms.
Still opening in 2014?
Last month, when we spoke to Robert Thompson about how the building had become an eyesore since the council boarded up all the windows, he told us that building contract would be going out to tender in September and with work starting in November. The intended opening date was Summer 2014.
Whether this new application will result in yet another delay to that anticipated opening date remains to be seen.
Have your say
Residents have until the 21st September to share their views on the revised application on the council’s planning website.
Thanks to John for the heads-up
