DEVELOPERS are seeking permission to add more homes to their plans for a hotel and residential flats complex on the Belvedere Hotel site.

Fresh Lime Developments have put forward an application to BCP Council to make further changes to their proposals, which initially gained approval in 2017.

Last year, the firm secured permission to reconfigure their scheme with the removal of 12 residential flats from the top floors of the Malmaison Hotel block after they said investors had “expressed concerns about the provision and future management of residential units within the hotel”.

The plans for a further amendment, which are currently open to public comments, are seeking approval to add an additional floor to sections of the residential building, delivering an additional 14 dwellings and taking the total number of homes up to 68 on the Bath Road site alongside the 131-bedroom hotel.

Michael Bibring, founding director of Fresh Lime Developments, said: “We have applied for some minor amendments to the planning as part of our finessing of the scheme, as is normal, and we have applied to add some further apartments because of the demand we are seeing and the needs of the town – our original consent was for 66 and this application would take us to just 68 so nothing major.

“We are very excited to bring this scheme to Bournemouth and in particular for the town to boast such a fantastic hotel.”

As reported by the Daily Echo last month, the £40million Malmaison Hotel and apartment scheme had fallen two years behind schedule.

The luxury boutique hotel chain had planned to open next year but this was pushed back to 2022.

Demolition of the Belvedere Hotel, which had been on the site for almost 160 years, took place in late 2017.

Bournemouth central ward councillor Mike Greene said: “We are really looking forward to Malmaison being in the town. It is a real plus for the town but we just need to make sure there is not too much ambition for the site in a way that is going to disturb people around the site.”

“We are pleased to see plans are there to take what has been a bit of an eye sore for a long time and put it back in use.”