Devoncourt Hotel plans to go appeal

Smaller hotel and four blocks of flats proposed

The developer behind a divisive Exmouth scheme to overhaul one of the town’s largest hotels has lodged an appeal in a bid to get permission for the plans.

The Devoncourt Hotel proposal envisages building a new 65-bed hotel and  four apartment blocks with a combined 66 new homes.

Planners rejected the scheme, submitted by Azim Lalani, in May, with East Devon District Council’s planning committee voting against it, by seven votes to four.

Now Mr Lalani is appealing to the planning inspectorate, which will scrutinise East Devon’s refusal to see if it genuinely aligns with the council’s planning policies.

At present, it looks like the appeal will be heard on Wednesday 23 April.

The council rejected the plans because it believed the development would impact neighbours and cause overlooking and loss of privacy.

Furthermore, planners felt the scale and density was out of keeping with the area, meaning it contravened planning policies.

The Avenues area of Exmouth has its own ‘design statement’ for planning. One requirement is that developments shouldn’t take up more than a quarter of the plot they sit on, meaning some objectors felt the Devoncourt Hotel scheme was “gross overdevelopment”.

The appeal documents do not specifically state what the developer disagrees with.

It does note, however, that the hotel is in or adjacent to a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, and that Natural England needs to be consulted.

Resident Jenny Dawson spoke against the application when it was heard in May, saying she felt the application offered “no mitigation” for the benefits the redevelopment would remove.

“The Devoncourt Hotel provides a community hub for groups to meet, spectacular grounds, a restaurant superbly placed to appreciate them,” she said.

“The restaurant included in the proposed budget hotel at the bottom of the site would never have the same appeal.

“Neither can it replace the loss of two swimming pools, jacuzzi, tennis court, putting green and classes in yoga, aqua aerobics, Tai Chi etc that the local community enjoys as well as hotel guests.”

Resident Celia Rustom believed the number of vehicles owned by residents, alongside deliveries to the new homes, would create 258 journeys per day.

“That’s more than one car movement every two minutes,” she said in her speech against the application.

it’s thought the Devoncourt opened in the 1920s and was for many years considered Exmouth’s foremost hotel.  In the 1980s it became timeshare accommodation, offering rooms on 25-year leases, before reverting back to a hotel.