Plans submitted to extend historic Castle Hotel

Richard Evans, Local democracy reporter

A planning application has been submitted for an extension and internal alterations at a historic hotel.

The Coaching Inn Group has applied to Conwy County Council’s planning department, seeking permission for works at the Castle Hotel on the town’s High Street.

The proposals include a new extension to the rear of the hotel, internal alterations to link existing spaces to the new build, changes to W.C provision, and a new gents’ toilets on the first floor.

The plans also include new openings within the central hall, to improve visibility between spaces, and the removal of a redundant external fire escape stair.Landscaping works are also proposed to the rear of the site, including new ground finishes, boundary treatments, garden structures, planting beds, and a new enclosed bin store.

The Castle Hotel is a grade-two listed former coaching inn. The hotel stands on the site of a former Cistercian abbey. Until the 1880s it was occupied by a public house, the King’s Head, dating from the 15th century, and the Castle Hotel in 1885.

Neighbours are yet to be consulted.

A statement from Welsh heritage guardians CADW said: “The site is surrounded by a high stone wall, and therefore, most of the changes will only be visible in short views from the car park of the hotel, and therefore, there will be no adverse impacts on the settings of the scheduled monuments or registered historic parks and gardens.

“The impact on the identified essential setting of the World Heritage Site is considered in a Heritage Impact Statement produced by Walsingham Planning which concludes that the proposed development will have neutral effect on the outstanding universal value of the World Heritage Site. We concur with this conclusion.”

The plans will likely be discussed at a future Conwy County Council planning committee meeting at the authority’s Coed Pella HQ.