First view of what new hotel and restaurant in St Austell might look like
A planning application has been amended amid concerns about a nearby church
Last updated 9th Mar 2022
New plans have been submitted for a 67-bedroom hotel and restaurant in the middle of St Austell town centre.
A planning application for a hotel on the car park at the former Sedgemoor site in the centre of town was submitted a year ago.
However, after a number of objections were made including concerns about the proximity of the hotel to a listed church, amended plans have now been lodged with Cornwall Council.
Nya Hospitalities is behind the proposals for a new hotel which would be located close to the Sedgemoor building which was previously a campus for St Austell College. That building has been part-converted into apartments.
A design and access statement submitted with the plans states: "The current proposals seek to optimise the potential of the site providing a quality 67 bed hotel with café restaurant and onsite parking. It seeks to contribute positively to its setting by creating a striking and elegant building".
There had been concerns raised about the proximity of the proposed new hotel to the Grade 2* listed St John’s Methodist Church.
John Keast, lay pastor at the church, said when commenting on the first application last year: "St John’s has served and continues to serve the wider community in St Austell for nearly two hundred years.
"It is a large church that hosts concerts, festivals, community services and worship attended and used by a large number of people in the St Austell area. The economic and social health of St Austell is therefore of great importance to the church. St John’s trustees believe that, in principle, the provision of a hotel in the town centre would be of great benefit to the town and help its regeneration.
"The trustees are therefore not minded to object as such to the development. Indeed, a living presence and use of the Sedgemoor site could have advantages in terms of discouraging anti-social behaviour in that area".
However he said there were concerns: "The siting of the hotel so close to the church: The distance between the northern boundary of the church site/building and the proposed development is very short, and trustees are concerned about the impact of this on the church in terms of noise, other forms of nuisance, and building work. This could be particularly important if the quality of the proposed hotel accommodation and services is not high.
"It is important that no development which leads to inappropriate noise or behaviour takes place that close to the church".
Local resident Wendy Earl said: "I do not object to having a hotel on this site. It will bring more people to our town centre and be a spur to our economy.
"However, I do object to the design. It looks like something parachuted in from any city in the world – so is quite unfitting for a town in Cornwall.
"Bearing in mind the efforts currently being made to restore our heritage and St John’s Church being right in front of the proposed hotel no concessions whatsoever have been made for this historic site".
No date has been set for when a decision will be made on the planning application.