Hotel and restaurant plan on Grimsby's Europarc given the go-ahead
THE final phase of Grimsby's flagship business park has been given the green light.
Planners yesterday granted outline planning permission for the last stage of development on Europarc, which is expected to create around 1,700 jobs.
The development will comprise additional industrial and warehousing units and office space, as well as a 60-room hotel, restaurant, gym, creche, shops and cafe.
Ivan Hinchliffe, planning manager at Wykeland Group, which owns the site, said the application was a renewal of a previous application submitted back in 1996.
MAYFAIR ESTATE AGENTS
IF WE CANNOT FIND YOU A TENANT WITHIN ONE MONTH WE WILL FIND YOU ONE FOR FREE, YES FREE, YOU WILL PAY NO FEES.
Terms: TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY.
Contact: 01472 355 553
Valid until: Sunday, May 26 2013
He told members of North East Lincolnshire Council's Planning Committee that the hotel and restaurant were "vital" for attracting new businesses to the site.
He said: "Wykeland has enjoyed success in attracting businesses to our sites on the North Bank during a time of recession and we feel outline planning permission for Europarc will enable us to achieve similar success on the South Bank."
Mr Hinchliffe said he would today be meeting a restaurant operator which specialises in business park developments.
He added: "We are not proposing to develop a separate pub or restaurant. It will be a single building. It could be a pub that sells food, or more likely a restaurant that sells drinks."
Planning officer Martin Dixon told the committee that having a pub or restaurant would not have a detrimental effect on trade in the town centre.
He said that although the site was in a "high flood risk area", a flood evacuation management plan drawn up with the Environment Agency and a plan to raise floor levels by three metres had dealt satisfactorily with the issue.
Councillor Philip Jackson (Con, Waltham) said: "I very much welcome this proposal. If a hotel is going to help to promote local business and industry and make the area more attractive from an investment viewpoint we should be supporting it."
Councillor Terry Thurogood (Lab, Croft Baker) said: "There is a demand for a hotel along the A180 corridor. A good quality hotel that has a national profile is something that we have lacked in North East Lincolnshire.
"This is our main economic development site in the borough so I fully support this application."
Councillor Ray Sutton (Lab, Freshney) expressed doubts about the need for an out-of-town hotel, given that one could be included as part of Grimsby Town Football Club's proposed relocation to the Peaks Parkway.
However, Councillor Andrew De Freitas (Lib Dem, Park) said it was premature to talk about the football stadium development as no planning application had yet been submitted for it.
He added: "I welcome this development. Certainly there is a need for a hotel on this site."
Comments
by porcelainblak
Thursday, October 25 2012, 9:15PM
“Hope this hotel does dinner dances, wedding receptions etc at a fraction of the RIDICULOUS prices at the Humber Royal.
Give it great 3 course dinners, a big dance floor and cheap bar prices (Humber Royal bar prices would be hilarious if they were part of a script for a sitcom) and it'll be a huge success. People wont mind getting a taxi out there for a night if it's value for money, and they could do a deal on rooms. Oh, and make sure they employ a DJ who doesn't play the same old party ****, ask for requests, and then play just what he wants!
Oh, and school proms aswell . . .”
by raysutton1
Thursday, October 25 2012, 9:11PM
“Thank you to correspondents who realise that the majority of new jobs that we all want to be created in the future at Europarc will be in (yet to be found) businesses that locate in the extra space. The planned food and drink outlet will be as important as any hotel because of daytime trade. Also thanks to those who realise that business people needing to stay at a hotel will always shop around. Also to those who are aware that there are other hotels in NE Lincs, both existing and being planned, some close and some 3 or 4 miles away (and no I don't mean at Peak's Parkway because there is only a feasibility study going on there).It will be the total number of jobs in the hotel trade that will matter and I think you would agree that will depend on whether there is an overall increase in demand and not on one hotel opening and (possibly) another closing. If you had to stay over on business, Cleethorpes might be more attractive than a business park?”
by Brutto
Thursday, October 25 2012, 6:53PM
“I thought there was a Hotel on the A180 already ? Where is the extra demand coming from ?”
by Beagleyes
Thursday, October 25 2012, 4:15PM
“Filmmaker in fairness to NELC they can't make companies build hotels or devlop sites just because planing permission has been granted for particular sites
Surely it's in everyone's intrest to have as much land ready for devlopment to allow companies to attract investment to our area
Investment will come..... hotel companies will come to the area and the likes of Europarc will continue to flourish”
by Beagleyes
Thursday, October 25 2012, 4:08PM
“tone1428 and by all accounts probably one of a very very few decent officers NELC ever had
People like this chap are vital for the area hence him being snapped up by Wykeland”
by Filmmaker
Thursday, October 25 2012, 4:02PM
“So I take it that the demolishing of the old Stones factory on Birchin way was a total waste of cash? That was demolished to make way for a hotel and all that appeared in its place were KFC and McDonalds on the edge of the land. The rest is just a rat-infested wasteground. The number of times I've seen a rat scuttling through the McDonalds car park while I've been eating is getting beyond a joke now.
NELC, get all the existing building projects finished before approving others!!”
by Oldkoppite
Thursday, October 25 2012, 3:54PM
“Read the article and you will find that the 1700 estimate is for the whole development not just a hotel, hmm....
Yes Hector I agree, why would a Lab councillor be against job creation? A hotel by an industrial estate close to the A180 - sounds like good marketing to me. Perhaps Cllr Sutton would like to explain to the jobless why he is against new jobs?”
by tone1428
Thursday, October 25 2012, 3:54PM
“@Educated Sage Yes he was officer in charge of Econ Dev,he was my Manager for a while!”
by Beagleyes
Thursday, October 25 2012, 3:39PM
“Educated sage
100percent correct with the ex NELC officer
Wykeland worked well to get this chap on board as he was I believe part of the team behind the original Europarc concept - what better person to have promoting the devlopment than someone who not only knows the local area very well but also has seen what excellent work Wykeland has done over on the north bank
Granted things might have slowed down over the years ( third recession since europarcs inception) but look what's been achieved over the years
By having planning permission in place for these developments allows the developers to move quickly to capture new oppatunties
Optamistic on jobs to be created - no it's about having vision and in time these jobs will be created
Who would have thought the present Europarc would be in its present position of the areas premier buisness park 14 years ago
With Wykeland at the Healy of the future of Europarc then you can be sure things will happen
Just be patient”
by EducatedSage
Thursday, October 25 2012, 3:13PM
“Wasn't the Planning Manger of Wykeland Group (Ivan Hinchliffe), employed by Grimsby District Council/North East Lincolnshire Council in 1990's, as an Economic Development Officer?”