Newbury Racecourse's bid for permanent hotel
Application submitted to enable The Lodge to provide accommodation all year round
A HOSTEL originally built for stable staff at Newbury Racecourse could become a fully- fledged hotel if plans are approved.
The Lodge was designed to only provide accommodation on racedays.
West Berkshire Council approved plans to convert the building to hotel use for up to 305 days a year in 2016, with that permission lasting for three years.
Residents living at the racecourse labelled the scheme as “development by stealth” and claimed the change of use was an excuse to not submit a detailed application for a purpose-built hotel.
With the three-year permission now close to expiring, the racecourse has applied to fully convert The Lodge to hotel use on a permanent basis.
Furthermore, plans to extend the building to accommodate more guests are to be lodged under a separate application.
The racecourse said the conversion would allow The Lodge “to continue to provide high-quality hotel accommodation, not only for the racecourse on race days, but also to the wider area of Newbury throughout the year”.
The racecourse said in its application: “The Lodge brings revenue to the racecourse and has relatively high occupancy levels all year round.
“Allowing it to continue operating as a hotel on a permanent basis will be advantageous and complementary to the racecourse.
“The Lodge has been successfully run as an hotel for almost three years, so making the use permanent would not result in a change to existing amenity impacts.”
The racecourse added that unless racehorse teams travelled from abroad or a long way, it was rare for them to require accommodation as they prefer to travel home or to the next meeting.
When plans to build 1,500 new homes at the racecourse were approved in 2010, it included permission for a 123-bed hotel.
A public consultation to expand The Lodge into a hotel was held last year and resulted in 11 people objecting to the proposals and 13 supporting.
Feedback said that many residents said they had been misled by David Wilson Homes when they purchased their properties.
Concerns were also raised about existing and potential noise and disturbance increases.
