PEOPLE in Huddersfield have just two more weeks to have their say on major plans for the town’s most iconic landmark.
Public consultation on proposals to build a hotel on Castle Hill ends on March 1.
As reported in December the Thandi Partnership, the business run by brothers Mick and Barry Thandi, wants permission for a scheme that is an almost identical replica of the former Castle Hill Hotel.
A planning application has been submitted to Kirklees Council by consultants Pegasus Planning Group on behalf of the Thandis.
According to the application, public opinion is in favour of a new pub and restaurant on the hill.
“It is clear and evident that there is a ground swell of opinion which favours the reconstruction of a pub/restaurant on the site of the former Castle Hill Hotel,” it said.
The new hotel, which would cost between £750,000 and £1m to build, would have seven bedrooms, a bar, restaurant and public toilets.
There would also be a room for educational use, including information about the history of the hill.
It would have a ground floor area of 650 sq metres – exactly the same as the original hotel.
A supporting statement provided with the application said it “essentially proposes the rebuilding of the Castle Hill Hotel, predominantly in the form of the original construction.”
The former Castle Hill Hotel was pulled down in controversial circumstances five years ago after the Thandis started work to extend it.
Council officials issued an enforcement notice after unapproved changes were made to the plans.
While the Thandis hold the leasehold to the Almondbury site, which also includes the Grade II listed Victoria Tower, the council owns the freehold.
The land is green belt, but according to the application the absence of facilities since 2005 “has been a significant issue to the extent that it has clearly impacted upon the recreational interest of the site.”
It argues that there are persuasive special circumstances to allow development on green belt land, including visitor facilities and the improvement of the site’s visual appearance.
The statement added: “A case can therefore be advanced that the replacement of that facility is essential to meet the reasonable needs of a significant proportion of visitors to the site and that without that facility the recreational potential of the site cannot be fully realised.
“For this reason it can be demonstrated that the replacement of the Castle Hill Hotel and the provision of the associated bar and restaurant facilities are appropriate development within the green belt”.
