Sheringham apartment hotel plan deferred by North Norfolk

Developers want to create a 37-suite ‘apartment hotel’ next to Sheringham's Reef leisure centre.   

Despite planning officials recommending the scheme go ahead, NNDC’s development committee voted to defer the application, arguing they wanted more information. 

Apartment hotels offer more space than a traditional room, with cooking facilities and living room areas, and are often used for more extended periods than a typical hotel room – up to 90 days in some cases. 

The Reef Leisure Centre (Image: Stuart Anderson)

It would provide limited on-site facilities for guests, with a space for a bar and laundrette on the ground floor. 

Councillors raised a series of concerns about the plans, particularly the lack of an urban drainage system in the plan.

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Paul Heinrich added: "There is also the issue of how carbon neutral this building will actually be, I would have liked to have seen far more solar PVs on those roofs and car park.” 

Sheringham councillor Liz Withington also told Thursday’s committee she had concerns about the scheme. 

Liz Withington (Image: Archant)

She said: “It's very easy I think to say that well it's a hotel it will benefit the local economy however there are many concerns in the town that this may have the opposite effect.” 

Ms Withington suggested expanding nearby industrial units could have better helped small businesses, potentially bringing more jobs for the community.

Councillor Richard Kershaw said he thought it would be a great benefit to the area and that he was surprised by Ms Withington’s comments.

He said: “I personally don't find the hotel objectionable and I think it sits quite well within The Reef and it’s good to see a piece of brownfield land being developed."

Councillors voted to defer the application with six votes for, five against and one abstention.