HOTEL TO HOUSE PLANS BACK ON THE TABLE AFTER PREVIOUS COUNCIL BLUNDER

Plans to turn Sandown’s Melville Hall Hotel into a house are once again back on the table, after some confusion with a previous application. Alan Humphreys, the owner of the hotel, is trying again to seek permission to turn the 20+ bed hotel into a residential property, according to planning documents. Mr Humphreys had submitted plans in June last year to make the change of use but was refused by the Isle of Wight Council as it said there was no evidence to justify the loss of the hotel and it would be to the detriment of the Island’s tourist economy. He appealed the refusal to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which is yet to be validated, and instead sought permission to install a new porch in November. However, the Isle of Wight Council listed the application as a change of use, which it said was an error and apologised to Mr Humphreys. The plans for a porch were then withdrawn in December. Now, new plans are back before the planning authority to change the hotel into a domestic property and add a porch, after the previous porch collapsed. In planning documents, Mr Humphreys says the property has been on the market for 12 months and the application is a “re-submission to correct a title error”. He says the building has already got a partial domestic status, as per the council tax department, and describes the use of the property as domestic. Mr Humphreys said the porch was dangerous and in disrepair so it was removed in February. The council had previously refused the porch, saying it was not in keeping with the neighbourhood, which Mr Humphreys said was ‘unacceptable’ due to the range of properties surrounding the hall. You can view the plans, 23/02110/FUL, on the Isle of Wight Council’s planning register. Comments can be submitted on 26th January. The hotel, on Melville Street, once hosted the Utopia Spa with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, nail bar and multiple treatment rooms. It also had a dining room with up to 100 covers and bar and lounge areas.