Former fire station building could be demolished as plans submitted for 116-bedroom Premier Inn hotel in Bognor Regis

Following a public consultation process in March, plans for a 116-bedroom Premier Inn Hotel in Bognor Regis have been submitted to Arun District Council.

Alongside construction of the hotel itself, the plans also provide scope for the construction of an ancillary restaurant and associated works, as well as the demolition of the former fire station building.

If approved, the new hotel will stretch from the current site of the old fire station building – which is attached to the Grade II Listed town hall – around the corner and along the promenade in an ‘L’ shape.

Current plans for the site would reduce the number of car parking spaces at The Alexandra Theatre by 20, leaving the site with a total capacity of 155 spaces. Although both the hotel and the theatre are set to share car parking, designers explained during the public consultation process their belief that the car park should have more than enough capacity for both, even at peak periods. The plans also provide for the replacement of an existing access to the car park with a lay-by which would form a natural extension to the existing footpath when not in use.

Deliveries of key items like food and linen are set to take place twice daily, with each visit lasting a maximum of 45 minutes, and the ancillary restaurant will be located on the ground floor.

Whitbread have promised to invest £11 million in the new hotel, which, they claim might generate as much as £2.8 million of annual revenue for the town each year, as guests dine out in local eateries and shop in local businesses.

Plans for the Premier Inn first materialised last year, after Arun District Council members agreed to a landswap deal with Premier Inn owners Whitbread, in order to free-up the company’s long leasehold on the site of The Alexandra Theatre. The land swap, set the council back by £750,000, has paved the way for £12 million Levelling Up Fund works to take place on the venue, plans for which were under public consultation earlier this year.

To find out more about the plans and read the full application, click here.

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Proposed Premier Inn hotel could generate nearly £3 million annually for Bognor Regis