A bid to replace a former Shanklin hotel with a 13-bed care home for adults with learning disabilities or mental health needs has been refused.
Care provider Call on Me’s change of use application to convert the erstwhile Parkway Hotel on Park Road into assisted living accommodation was rejected by planners.
The Isle of Wight Council’s decision report said the loss of the hotel would have a ‘detrimental impact’ on the Island’s tourism industry.
According to the applicant’s agent, Paul Stack Planning, the 3-storey, 16-bedroom premises closed in August 2023.
The Parkway Hotel ceased trading after becoming financially unviable – a result of ‘rising operational costs’ and a ‘significant decline’ in tourism, its former operator said.
A Planning, Design and Access Statement said:
“Call on Me has been trading for four years…they have received positive feedback, especially around reducing packages of support by focusing individuals on achieving goals in a proactive way and positively managing risks.
“The age range is anticipated to be 18–54-year-olds with a learning disability or mental health need, whilst developing a pathway option for 16–25-year-olds.”
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Deciding on application 25/01427/FUL, County Hall said planning policy allows for the loss of tourism accommodation where it can be ‘robustly evidenced’ the current use is unviable.
Planners said:
“In this case, it is considered this has not been robustly demonstrated and therefore loss of the existing hotel would have a detrimental impact on the Island’s tourism economy contrary to local planning policy which seeks to maintain and improve tourism accommodation, particularly in locations such as this”.
The hotel has been closed for 2 years but the Council would rather have an empty building against one that provides much needed accomodation to those unfortunate to be in need of care. It has been stated that it ceased trading as a hotel as it was financially unviable, surely makes complete sense to put the building to good use as a care home.
So, let me see….
The published figures that CLEARLY show that Visitor numbers to the Isle of Wight over the last two years have declined (despite the BIDLevy) aka TAX, charges to (some) Tourist and leisure Businesses, which pay ridiculous salaries to the likes of the now resigned Will Myers, have now proven to have had NO effective influence on Tourism numbers, the Idiots in Planning and the I.o.W. Council claim that the change of use of ONE hotel will have a detrimental impact on tourism accommodation. Unless (independent) hotels can come up with some unique form of U.S.P., only chain style hotels will be able to survive. This is a business that has been shut for the last TWO YEARS, so cannot have had real any influence/impact on the drop in Visitor numbers…
Ostriches with their heads in the sand is the best metaphor I can politely come up with!
Would the conversion of a modest former hotel – closed for 2 years – be such a loss to the faltering Isle of Wight tourism? Providing a 13-bed care facility for adults with learning disabilities seems to be a worthy venture, helping bring lifetime comfort to folk less fortunate than ourselves.
There appears to be a plentiful Island supply of spare empty hotels going up in flames.
What a misguided decision, many hotels are now unviable. For the planning committee to refuse converting it into a useful building is plain stupid. Soon it will be another derelict hotel blighting the neighbourhood.
Good call, tourism is suffering enough.
Keep as many hotels open as possible.
This is scandalous!
The Island needs more (good) CARE HOMES!!!
Nothing worse than seeing empty and derelict hotels.
Better to be used for something.
So the council has blocked ANOTHER empty hotel that won’t ever make money.
How long before this one starts catching fire.
Why can’t they just allow the change of usage for all of them and allow all these derelict eyesore’s to be replaced.
Then we might actually get more tourists returning, which won’t happen at the moment with how dire the Bay Area looks now.