A MULTI-MILLION pound proposal to redevelop a historic Droitwich hotel which will ‘shape the town for the next 100 years’ has been given the go-ahead.
The plans put forward by Origin3 for the Raven Hotel, on St Andrew’s Street, were approved by Wychavon District Council’s planning committee last Thursday (October 9).
Not only will the development create around 50 new jobs and 51 homes it will also provide a cash injection of more than £250,000 into the town’s leisure and transport facilities.
The committee gave the green light under the condition officers and ward councillors worked with Origin3 on some of the housing designs they did not believe fitted in with the surrounding area and needed to be more striking.
A condition was also made that all the historic parts of the building would be saved and reused, this included the columns, fireplace and chimneys.
For the development of the Grade II listed building, which has a 16th century timber framed structure at its core, parts of the existing hotel will be used and a new single-storey extension will be built at the back for a restaurant, capable of seating 150 people.
The area being used for the apartments and houses will require the demolition of some the existing structures and outbuildings on the hotel’s grounds.
Parts of The Raven will also be knocked down but the historic core of the building will be saved.
The development will include four two-bedroom semi-detached houses, two three-bedroom detached houses and eight three-bedroom terraced houses.
As well as this there will also be six houses with four bedrooms and ten one-bedroom apartments. A further 18 apartments with two bedrooms will be incorporated into five two and three-storey blocks.
Number eight, St. Andrew’s Street will be converted and extended to provide two apartments with two bedrooms and one with one bedroom.
During the meeting Coun Audrey Steel said she thought the plans could be more modern and Coun Tony Millar said, although he believed it was a good concept, mixing the old with the new, he did not like the house styles.
But Coun Alistair Adams said it would be very dull if everything was the same in the town but whether the committee liked it or not it did not matter because Droitwich residents’ liked the plans.
Coun Bob Brookes said: “I am very pleased something is going to be done with the Raven Hotel that has been left for far longer than we would have liked.
“I would like to thank the the Droitwich councillors and members of the planning committee in giving us the opportunity to fine tune the design.”
