"Eyesore" hotel demolition 'as soon as possible'

The dilapidated building, which has been described by residents as a “hulking monstrosity”, has been unused since 2002 and was severely damaged in a fire in 2012.

Residents have called for its demolition since but plans to redevelop the site were not submitted by its owner, Meyrick Estate, until last year.

Planning permission for the scheme for the Cliff End Hotel was granted by Bournemouth council’s planning board on Tuesday, despite a recommendation that it be refused.

Members of the public and councillors spoke in favour of the building being knocked down and a new assisted-living complex being built in its place.

Despite the committee’s approval, formal permission has yet to be signed-off by Bournemouth council while the final details are completed.

Meyrick Estate hopes to begin demolition work “as soon as possible” with contractors in place to carry out the work.

Construction of the new building will not start until preparation work has been completed. Ken Parke, the planning consultant managing the application on behalf of Meyrick Estate, said: “We submitted the application in quite a specific way to start demolition immediately.

“Normally in a conservation area a council would want demolition and the construction of the new build to be done in the same phase but due to the complexities of the site that’s not possible here.

“It’s a very difficult site to develop and there will need to be work done before the new build can be started.”

As well as the small size of the land, a sewer runs through the middle of where the building would be constructed which will need to be assessed before any work starts.

“We know that the public want the building to be demolished as soon as possible, that’s why we have done things this way,” Mr Parke added.

“Everything is in place for the demolition work to start, we just need final approval from the council that planning permission has been granted.”