DOVER KENT ARCHIVES

Sort file:- Dover, September, 2021.

Page Updated:- Tuesday, 07 September, 2021.

PUB LIST PUBLIC HOUSES Barry Smith and Paul Skelton

Spoken of July 2008

Townwall Street Hotel

Not yet built

Townwall Street

Dover

From the Dover Express, 24 July, 2008. Report by Kathy Bailes

CASH PRIMER FOR GROWTH

Land bridge and tower

Above picture shows how cash could be used to move forward the proposal for the land bridge and tower.

 

CASH for roads, schools, transport and health facilities will now be on offer to Dover following its successful bid to become a Growth Point area.

The authority is guaranteed an immediate £100,000 payout for planning costs for the construction of new properties in the district.

The cash is just one payment which DDC can now claim for vital infrastructure work to support the plan for a possible 14,000 new homes over the next 20 years.

It can also apply for money from a £100 million growth fund and a £200 million infrastructure fund to improve infrastructure and transport links.

The announcement of Dover's Growth Point status was made by Minister for Communities and Local Government Caroline Flint last week. It is part of a package of measures put in place to boost the long-term construction of new homes across the country.

Making the announcement Mrs Flint said: “The international credit crunch has created significant challenges, not just for the UK housing market but in other parts of Europe and the United States.

“However, the long term need to provide more homes has not gone away. We have a growing and ageing population and will only see worsening affordability unless we increase housing supply.”

The Growth Point announcement sees more than 20 areas granted the status in return for a pledge to build up to 75,000 extra homes between them by 2016. Dover is one of two south-eastern areas to be included in the latest round of successful bids, the other being Shoreham.

DDC has pledged to build a further 1,000 homes than previously planned to be designated as a Growth Point.

District council leader Paul Watkins said: “What you are going to see is accelerated priorities and road schemes, such as the long-awaited A2 dualling and around the Port of Dover with the land bridge and other infrastructure. We are making sure growth stays in Dover district.

“As we start to develop our plans the infrastructure will come at the same time or up front. It removes the uncertainty of seeing all these new houses and asking about the infrastructure. The people of Dover will benefit in the long term with building schools for the future, health facilities and supporting leisure activities, roads and public transport. None of this would have been achieved without cross-party support and support from regeneration agencies, the Port of Dover, Dover businesses and particularly the chamber of commerce and lobbying by our MP.”

 

PORT of Dover chief executive Bob Goldfield said: “This is good news for Dover and should provide additional funding for the waterfront project and the desire to improve the linkage between the seafront and the town.”

 

Good news: DDC leader Paul Watkins says people will see the results of the new status for Dover.

 

From the Dover Express, 29 December, 2011

HOTEL PLANS

DOVER: Details of what the new hotel, planned for the St James' area will look like are due to be discussed in the new year by Dover Town Council and Dover District Council.

The construction is the first step towards the demolition of the towering and long-vacant Burlington House in Townwall Street and will include a restaurant and bars on the ground and three upper floors.

The siting of the planned hotel is on the west side of Woolcomber Street and the south side of what is left of St James Street.

A second planning application, submitted by Bond City Ltd, is for an illuminated LED screen. The hotel would take a small section of the Russell Street pay-and-display car park and will not have its own separate car parking facility.

 

From the Dover Mercury, 29 March, 2012. 80p

Townwall Street Hotel

LANDMARK BUILDING PLAN SLAMMED BY TOWN COUNCIL

TOWN councillors are opposing plans to build a hotel, restaurants, bars and a mast as part of the Dover Town Investment Zone development at Woolcomber Street.

The application, to be discussed by district councillors at their meeting tonight (Thursday), covers part of the Russell Street car park, behind the Townwall Street service station, and land fronting Woolcomber Street and the vacant corner with Townwall Street.

Councillors are being told that the scheme has been submitted ahead of the rest of the DTIZ proposals because a tenant is ready to run the four-storey hotel, which will have 108 bedrooms.

There will be a restaurant and bars on the ground floor.

The 35-metre high mast, which will accommodate the telecommunications equipment currently on the top of Burlington House, will also have an LED.

How the view might look from Townwall Street looking at Woolcomber Street display screen, measuring 2.7 by 10 metres, which will be used for commercial purposes as well as local tourist information.

But the scheme has been slammed by Dover town councillors who say the design is not in keeping with the area and is not distinctive for the town.

The town councillors say they “object strongly” to the proposal and are critical of the LED screen.

The district council has received eight letters of objection which also oppose the mast and screen, claiming it could distract drivers, and saying the hotel design is “poor”.

Planning committee members are being told that from street level, the mast should have a “clean, sharp finish” that would look like render.

 

From the Dover Express, Thursday, 5 April, 2012. 65p. Report by Kathy Bailes

REGENERATION SCHEME OUT OF THE BLOCKS

Townwall Street hotel

DESIGN: The hotel will feature a raised-level terrace and three restaurants

Work to begin on hotel after new plan approved

 

BUILDING work on the first phase of the Dover Town Investment Zone (DTIZ) will start by the end of the year, says the retail development expert drafted onto the scheme in October 2010.

John Laker made the announcement after Dover District Council planning committee members approved plans for the 108-bed Travelodge hotel, telecommunications mast and 10-metre LED screen at Woolcoomber and St James streets.

He described the decision as a major “milestone” in a project that has been in the planning stage for more than a decade.

Collapse

Laker Developments, Bond City and architects Lyons Sleeman and Hoare, have been working together to regenerate the St James Street site since the collapse of a deal for Asda to move in as anchor tenant two years ago.

The new designs created by the team are based on the old street layout of the seafront site, coupled with a maritime theme. The Travelodge hotel was the subject of a separate application, now approved, which will be followed by the second phase for shops, homes, restaurants and parking when land ownership negotiations are completed.

Planning permission for a hotel, mast and screen was originally granted in 2009. The new application has reduced the screen size and the hotel height but kept the backward L-shape design.

John Laker

Mr Laker said: “We are delighted to have received planning approval for the hotel element of our redevelopment of the St James site.

“It marks another milestone in the progress towards delivering a town centre scheme which will underpin Dover's sustainability for the future.

“It will also allow the construction of the first phase of the scheme to get under way quickly and provide activity on a site where redevelopment has been long awaited.

We would expect to be on site towards the end of this year. ”

The four-storey Travelodge will have three restaurants on the ground floor, parking including nine disabled bays, a coach drop-off point and a raised-level terrace.

Concerns were raised at the meeting by speaker for The Dover Society Jeremy Cope about the “inferior quality” design of the hotel.

But Clifford Ranee, agent for Bond City, told councillors: “The site is seen in context with late-20th-century development, including the Gateway Flats and the leisure centre on the corner.”

Fears were also raised about the possibility of road accidents due to motorists being distracted by the LED screen, which will air adverts, public information and a Welcome to Dover message.

A proposal to attach a temporary condition that the use of the screen be reviewed after two years was approved by the committee.

DDC leader Paul Watkins said of the permission approval: “This is a vote of confidence in the development and growth agenda for Dover. The development needs to proceed as a speedily as possible to show to the investors and community that Dover is on the move.”

It is hoped the Travelodge will be complete during 2013, when Burlington House could also be razed.

 

BID TO GET PURCHASE POWERS

PREPARATIONS are being made for DDC to be able to make Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) within the site.

Letters have been sent to land and property owners to forewarn them that they will be issued with a requisition for information notice. The notice requires them to answer questions about their property. The letter says: “It is a fact-finding exercise as part of the standard due diligence process. It will ensure the council is able to communicate effectively with those who may be affected by the development.”

A report is due to be made to DDC cabinet members on May 14 to gain approval for a formal CPO resolution.

Paul Watkins

 

 

 

SUPPORT: The four-storey Travelodge hotel forms part of the DTIZ scheme that has been welcomed by DDC leader Paul Watkins.

From the Dover Express, 11 February, 2016.

Travelodge 2016

 

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