Plans for extension at former Bailey Bridge hotel to create 19 extra rooms for Premier Inn

A CHRISTCHURCH hotel could expand by 19 rooms if new plans are given the go-ahead.

Whitbread Hotels has submitted the application, which also includes moving the restaurant, for the former Bailey Bridge – now the Premier Inn Christchurch West Hotel.

A design statement by Walsingham Planning says the existing hotel is a “well-used facility providing overnight accommodation for tourists and business travellers”.

However, the company says there is a “demand for additional hotel bedrooms which would create additional employment opportunities during the operational and construction phases, as well as supporting third party suppliers“.

Under the proposal, the existing restaurant, which is used only by hotel guests, would be re-sited on previously developed land and would “make more efficient use of the site without needing to expand outside the existing curtilage”.

The new hotel extension, the company adds, “would bring economic, social and environmental benefits”.

“The hotel operates viably and successfully in this location, whereas there is a lack of demand for a restaurant of the current size, hence the proposal for additional guest bedrooms and a smaller restaurant space,” said Walsingham Planning.

Proposed alterations were said to be “modest, appropriate and in-keeping with the existing building such that the building’s character and appearance will not be adversely impacted”.