Plans for a new hotel in Carlisle are set to get the go-ahead next week.
Members of Cumberland Council’s planning committee will discuss the application by Whitbread plc to create the Premier Inn on the site of the former Central Plaza Hotel on Victoria Viaduct.
Whitbread plc agreed terms to acquire the site of the Central Plaza from the council in June last year.
The five-storey hotel would have 104 bedrooms in total and feature a restaurant and bar.
It would also include staff accommodation.
The development would have solar panels and air-source pumps to create low-energy demand.
The Central Plaza Hotel was designed by local architect Daniel Birkett and built in 1881.
It initially opened as the Grand Central Hotel, it was later known as the Central Hotel and subsequently the Central Plaza Hotel.
The building was given Grade II-listed status in 1994. The hotel closed in 2003, and planning permission for conversion to residential and leisure use was granted in 2004, but never followed through.
The site had effectively been ownerless for several years and in July 2011, the interior of the building suffered substantial fire damage, followed by ongoing vandalism.
Its ownership reverted to the Crown Estate that year. The then-Carlisle City Council demolished and cleared the hotel during 2020 after it became structurally unsafe.
The western boundary of the site forms part of a Medieval wall, which links Carlisle Castle to the cathedral.
If it gets the go-ahead, the hotel building would not occupy the entire site footprint.
There would be a gap between its end elevation and The Green Room Theatre. A section of the listed wall would remain exposed and would be carefully
restored as part of the development.
This retained section would be visible from Backhouse Walk.
Carlisle and District Civic Trust continues to object to the proposed new hotel and one letter of objection has been sent to the council about the hotel’s appearance not being in keeping with the surrounding buildings.
In a report to members, officers said the operational phase of the proposed development was estimated to have the potential of creating around 25 jobs, generating £1,1m GVA in the Cumbrian economy and around £520,000 in wages, attract 45,600 visitors to Carlisle and generate around £65,000 in business rates a year.
Cumberland Council’s planning committee will meet on Wednesday.
