Hotel plans slammed as 'concrete carbuncle'

9:40am Tuesday 19th March 2013 in News By Elizabeth Kemble

PLANS to build a 65-bed hotel and drive-through McDonalds in Southampton Road have been slammed by Salisbury councillors and residents.

Developer, Life Property, wants to build the Premier Inn-style hotel and fast-food restaurant on land between Tesco and the park and ride site.

They say the scheme would improve the gateway access into the city and create around 100 full and part-time jobs.

Giving a presentation at a Salisbury Area Board meeting on Thursday, architect Alan Gaskell of Mountford Pigot, said: “At the moment it’s overgrown, it’s not a very pleasant site and needs development.

“We would use materials to reflect the historical centre of Salisbury – it involves light grey cream brick and stone coloured indoor panels.

“It’s a new concept for McDonalds, being two-storeys, there are a couple of examples around, one in Andover and another in Bognor, and we will see these rolled out a lot more - it gets away completely from what we know as the standard McDonalds.”

But residents were scathing over the plans, calling the development a “concrete carbuncle”, which would “do nothing” for the approach to Salisbury.

Other concerns raised included the potential loss of trade for city centre hotels, an increase in traffic on an already congested route, its proximity to a floodplain and the unlikelihood of business people at the hotel using the park and ride to come into the city.

Councillor Paul Sample said: “It may very well create 100 jobs but it will undermine, if not destroy a hundred livelihoods for the hotel and B&B owners in the city.

“The Gothic jewel of Salisbury is the cathedral spire and if this development goes ahead, what’s the first thing people will see when they come into the city? McDonalds. I don’t want Salisbury looking like downtown Chicago.”

He called for the people of Salisbury to “rise up and act together” like those in Totnes who successfully fought against Costa Coffee’s plans to open a shop in the town’s high street.

Richard Evans, representing Life Property, said: “The presentation was part of our very early consultation process with the local community and we will now consider all of the comments that were made during the evening before coming back with a more formal plan and application.”

Comments(16)

Grampie says...
10:45am Tue 19 Mar 13

It is not overgrown land. It is called countryside.

I bet the Wiltshire Council will not fight this because they will be opposing a large multi national company and will not be willing to spend out on legal fees.

Unfortunately the Government has relaxed the planning laws and this will go through.

Maybe those who love our city will stop using a certain burger chain in protest.

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reasonedhuman says...
11:52am Tue 19 Mar 13

Sadly if you stop using the certain burger chain establishment in Salisbury you are also protesting against a business run by a local family as well as the larger company.

Salisbury's outlet is run as a franchise rather than by the company themselves - though clearly both profit from that!

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rattajack says...
11:59am Tue 19 Mar 13

Lets us hope all the Hotel and B&B owners, & locals who sit for hours trying to get out of Tesco will join forces to make sure this does NOT go through.
Who actually owns that piece of land? How much chaos will it cause whilst building IF it went ahead?
What about the fast food places in the city, will that not affect their trade causing MORE store closeures ?
I feel most of the locals in Salisbury would wonder why £10,000 has been spent on 2 signs to encourage people INTO the city, only to trap people in a allready congested out of Town area.

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razzbag says...
12:23pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Is the "overgrown land" the stagnant swamp they have created by building the white elephant known as the Park & Ride? Wherever they're actually talking about, if it's near the Southampton Road roundabout they've obviously never spent half of their day trying to exit from Tesco. There are already too many premises there with only one route in and out. This is the last thing that Salisbury and that area in particular needs. Or maybe not the very last thing, perhaps that honour could be given to the conversion of the market square to some kind of continental piazza that nobody except the planners wants.

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Grampie says...
2:33pm Tue 19 Mar 13

reasonedhuman wrote:
Sadly if you stop using the certain burger chain establishment in Salisbury you are also protesting against a business run by a local family as well as the larger company.

Salisbury's outlet is run as a franchise rather than by the company themselves - though clearly both profit from that!
They will lose out anyway if another competitor opens in the city.

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macogan says...
3:45pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Where can we see these plans or hasn't an application been submitted yet?

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Richard Clewer says...
4:08pm Wed 20 Mar 13

No application has been submitted yet. The issue came to the Area Board as consultation before an application was submitted. I guess if it was genuine consultation the developers may be going away for a re-think as the public message was pretty clear.

As for the cycnical comment from Grumpie about whether Wiltshire will oppose the scheme.

If the Southern planning commitee of Wiltshire Council do not approve the development, the Council will fight it. Money does not come into it, local democractic decision making does.

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rantone says...
4:57pm Wed 20 Mar 13

Richard Clewer states above " if the Southern planning committee of WC DO NOT approve the development , the Council will fight it." Can RC clarify this - which council will fight and whom?
Richard has been very vocal and replies to all and every comment, may I remind him that he is the Chairman of an elected group(Area Board), and in that role speaks for the board, not his own view. I know he wants the best for Salisbury but it is not possible to please all - however, any plans and suggestions for this area should be consulted on with the residents and his fellow elected members. Richard is a pleasant young man with a family - take time out and enjoy Easter, he will not regret - then campaign and see what is on the agenda from May 2nd. A sound home life leads to an all more purposeful and vigorous person. KEEP CALM and let comments come - read but not reply. So do not answer my ? - let others.

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Grampie says...
7:04pm Wed 20 Mar 13

Richard Clewer wrote:
No application has been submitted yet. The issue came to the Area Board as consultation before an application was submitted. I guess if it was genuine consultation the developers may be going away for a re-think as the public message was pretty clear.

As for the cycnical comment from Grumpie about whether Wiltshire will oppose the scheme.

If the Southern planning commitee of Wiltshire Council do not approve the development, the Council will fight it. Money does not come into it, local democractic decision making does.
Grumpy? That is the first time I heard that. Laughed my socks and slippers off.

Councils do not have any money to fight applications like this from companies like those, especially as the planning rules have been relaxed.

Look up sustainable development in the new planning regulations.

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mellybumps says...
12:20pm Thu 21 Mar 13

So no picture of it then?! I assume there is a drawing somewhere for it to be described as a "concrete carbuncle". To be honest Salisbury could do with a generic hotel like that for cheaper accommodation for people going to conferences etc and almost every town has a drive through.

However, as has been said already Southampton Road is an absolute nightmare as it is, ridiculously so. This (and I mean the fast food part rather than the hotel mainly) would probably cause the road to be even more rammed with cars and possibly have a knock on effect on the other businesses up there as people will want to avoid going there. Perhaps another area of the city would be better. Having said that we all know that what the people of the city want has no bearing on what gets proposed or approved.

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gotanybiscuits? says...
9:53am Fri 22 Mar 13

mellybumps wrote:
So no picture of it then?! I assume there is a drawing somewhere for it to be described as a "concrete carbuncle". To be honest Salisbury could do with a generic hotel like that for cheaper accommodation for people going to conferences etc and almost every town has a drive through. However, as has been said already Southampton Road is an absolute nightmare as it is, ridiculously so. This (and I mean the fast food part rather than the hotel mainly) would probably cause the road to be even more rammed with cars and possibly have a knock on effect on the other businesses up there as people will want to avoid going there. Perhaps another area of the city would be better. Having said that we all know that what the people of the city want has no bearing on what gets proposed or approved.
Yes, where exactly is this mysterious bit of land "between" Tesco & the park+ride?
.
There is a road, pavement, &..... that's about it.

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Grampie says...
12:08pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Richard Clewer wrote:
No application has been submitted yet. The issue came to the Area Board as consultation before an application was submitted. I guess if it was genuine consultation the developers may be going away for a re-think as the public message was pretty clear.

As for the cycnical comment from Grumpie about whether Wiltshire will oppose the scheme.

If the Southern planning commitee of Wiltshire Council do not approve the development, the Council will fight it. Money does not come into it, local democractic decision making does.
Hi Richard, Grumpy here.

I thought you might like to read the comments from one of your chums about planning http://www.telegraph
.co.uk/news/newsvide
o/uk-politics-video/
9948008/Planning-min
ister-new-developmen
ts-are-quite-likely-
to-be-ugly.html

Build anywhere as far as he is concerned.

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Dr S Brule says...
1:53pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Grampie: Do you want people to afford to rent, let alone buy? Or should homes only be for the wealthy?

It appears you want to have your cake and eat it...

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Grampie says...
2:18pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Dr S Brule wrote:
Grampie: Do you want people to afford to rent, let alone buy? Or should homes only be for the wealthy?

It appears you want to have your cake and eat it...
Where do you get the idea that I do not want homes for people?

You missed the point that I made to Richard about whether or not the Wiltshire Council, of which he is an elected member, would fight the likes of McDonalds if their planning application was refused

The minister in the article is saying build what you like, where you like.

In an ideal world everyone should own their own home. Paying off a mortgage during your working life boost your disposable income in later life. However, not everyone will be paid enough to buy their own house, so they have to rent.

Well planned sites for housing is to be welcomed, but not at any price and that price can be the destruction of wildlife and the areas where we live. Would you want a housing estate put into the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral?

I would rather see housing built on the land between Tescos and the P & R, when there are empty properties in the city and empty small business units in other parts of the area. How about building on that derelict estate on the Netherampton Road?

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gingin says...
4:14pm Sat 23 Mar 13

Planning Laws have been relaxed to the point of ridiculous. Ask the residents of Hampton Park how much they feel let down. (500 houses Hampton Park 2)

If the application is refused without substantial planning reasons then the developer will go to appeal. Even if a planning inspector upholds the refusal then the developer has the option to ask the Secretary of State (Pickles).

Before long Salisbury will be buried under development with no boundary between open green spaces and urban sprawl.

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AuraTodd says...
6:45pm Sun 24 Mar 13

gingin wrote:
Planning Laws have been relaxed to the point of ridiculous. Ask the residents of Hampton Park how much they feel let down. (500 houses Hampton Park 2)

If the application is refused without substantial planning reasons then the developer will go to appeal. Even if a planning inspector upholds the refusal then the developer has the option to ask the Secretary of State (Pickles).

Before long Salisbury will be buried under development with no boundary between open green spaces and urban sprawl.
Wilton cant stop calling itself a town in 100yrs time. Amesbury will soon be joined to Salisbury as well.

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