Redevelopment of Devon hotel site set for green light

A Devon seaside town hotel could soon be demolished to make way for a replacement along with apartments and a restaurant and gym.Applicant Azim Lalani is seeking full planning permission for the redevelopment of the Devoncourt Hotel in Exmouth.Proposed is to demolish the existing four-storey hotel and replace it with three apartment buildings housing 51 apartments at a similar height. These would be known as the ‘northern apartments’.A further apartment block containing 15 apartments known as ‘southern apartments’ would be constructed in the existing landscaped gardens of the Devoncourt.A new 65 bedroom hotel with gym and restaurant would then be situated on the southern most part of the site.Over recent decades, The Devoncourt has been a long established destination for holiday makers, primarily as a traditional hotel and latterly as timeshare accommodation.It contains bedrooms and apartments, together with a range of on-site leisure and recreational facilities, including gym and outside heated swimming pool.East Devon planners deferred the application at a meeting in April so that members could undertake a site visit.East Devon District Council’s planning will now again consider the application next Tuesday (21 May).A report for the committee added: “Overall, the benefits of the proposal are considered to demonstrably outweigh the harm and therefore the proposal is recommended for approval subject to conditions to mitigate certain impacts of the proposal.”A recommendation has been made to approve the application, subject to the prior signing of legal agreement.This will secure 15 units of affordable housing on site which would be 70 per cent rented and 30 per cent shared ownership.