Knoll House Hotel plans set for refusal

Dorset planning officers say the changes to the £60million scheme fall short on a number of measures and, if allowed, would impact the important local environment.

Previous proposals for the site were refused by Dorset Council’s area planning committee in February 2022.

Since then further changes have been made to the masterplan – reducing the height of the main 30-bed hotel building and cutting back on the number of apartments, from 22 to 18.

In total the current proposal offer 280 bed spaces, sixty less than current site capacity, although almost all the live-in staff accommodation has been removed from the plans.

Next week’s area planning committee (10th) will be recommended to refuse the updated proposals because of its scale, form and massing; the impact on the area’s heathland; inadequate surface water proposals and a suitable biodiversity plan.

“The application would continue to generate significant adverse effects and would compromise the special qualities that underpin the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’s designation… It has not been adequately demonstrated that the proposal would not have an adverse effect upon important international and nationally protected wildlife sites and as such it must be considered that there would be a likely significant effect which cannot be adequately mitigated again,” said a summary to councillors.

Ward councillor Cherry Brooks has pleaded for the committee not to reject the latest plan. In a statement to fellow councillors she says: “The first iteration was submitted almost 6 years ago and the applicants have worked hard to address all of the issues raised by residents, natural England, AoNB, Parish Council. At some point we have to determine whether this planning authority is going to allow the complete degeneration of a well-established business/tourist accommodation/employer, or whether it will support the huge economic benefits that it will bring to Purbeck. I believe that all issues have now been adequately addressed and want to see this go forward.”

Knoll House was built in the early 1900s, becoming a hotel in 1931 and during the war years was requisitions for troops working on beach defences. It reopened as a hotel in 1946.

Kingfisher Resorts Studland Ltd say their proposals would provide an economic boost for the area while at the same time improving the layout and appearance of the site, which currently has around 30 separate buildings.

Their current plans include a 30-bed hotel; 18 two and three-bed apartments and 26 two and three-bed villas together with a spa and restaurant. All of the existing buildings on the site are proposed to be demolished, with only the central façade of the original hotel building being retained. Many of the buildings would have ‘green’ roofs with solar panels proposed throughout the site.

The developers had previously claimed the redevelopment would provide £8.5million in benefits to the area and provide more than 230 jobs with an electric bus for guests and staff running from 6am to midnight daily across Poole, Wareham and the wider Purbeck area to reduce car use.

At the 2022 planning meeting Swanage councillor Gary Suttle backed the plan saying the scheme would not cover a greater area than at present and said the officer reports had heavily focused on negative aspects, backed by objectors including the National Trust, but had not given adequate weight to the benefits.

Another Swanage councillor Bill Trite said he was on the “horns of a dilemma” over the proposal- suggesting an amended application might find favour.

At the vote the committee unanimously followed the officer recommendation to reject the application.