Hotels to face tighter planning rules
Hotels will face tighter planning rules for developments such as golf courses and gardens following today's launch of English Heritage's Historic Environment at Risk initiative.
The scheme, an extension of the 10-year old Buildings at Risk register, is launching with a summary document of landscape sites at risk, such as historic parks, gardens and battlefields.
Any hotel operator wanting to develop property on these sites will face a more complex planning application, as the sites will be marked out for special consideration by local authorities.
English Heritage plans to contact the owners of Heritage at Risk sites, such as country hotels, during the next year and publish an expanded register, including monuments and conservation areas, in 2009.
In the interim, the body has published a series of 10-step good practice guides to landscape design, including advice on golf course developments.
Jenifer White, senior landscape advisor at English Heritage, said country house hotel owners had helped save many historic buildings but faced constant pressure to develop their assets further, which sometimes threatened the integrity of sites of historic significance.
"We are trying to provide people with the tools to avoid misjudged developments that could actually undermine what they are trying to do," she told Caterersearch.
"The register will include existing golf courses in need of redevelopment as well as new projects," said White.
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By Chris Druce
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