By Ryan Sands
A proposal for a “luxurious, high-end design hotel and restaurant development” on Newcastle’s Main Street has again been earmarked for refusal.
A planners’ report, to be presented at next Wednesday’s (1 July) Planning Committee meeting, recommends that Arlington Hotel (NI) Limited’s 2023 proposal – which would involve the demolition of Gallagher’s Sports Bar and the neighbouring premises (formerly Pure Chic), and the erection of a 12-unit apartment hotel, restaurant and golf storage area on a site that includes two properties on Valentia Place – be turned down.
The application, which was previously for 14 units, went before the committee in January with a refusal recommendation attached; however, it was agreed to defer a decision to a future date to allow for further consideration.
A deferral was also made in November 2024 through the planning call-in procedure – this was instigated by the applicant’s agent – to allow for planners’ concerns “in relation to scaling, mass and design” to be addressed.
It was stated in the January committee report that it was considered that “the aparthotel is a significant building in terms of size, scale and massing in the context of the size of the site”, and that “it is deemed to be inappropriate to the site, amounting to overdevelopment of the site, and would be out of character with the surrounding area”.
An application to revise the number of units in the proposal down to 12 was submitted in February.
