PLANS to build 12 new dwellings in Pencraig can go ahead after Herefordshire planners approved the scheme to allow the demolition of a former hotel to make way for the new development.

Mount Craig Hall was originally a farmhouse dating back to the early 19th and was converted into a hotel during the 1930s and subdivided into 13 apartments during the 1980s.

But now the hotel site could be replaced with 12 dwellings comprising a mix of one, two, three and four bed properties broadly on the footprint of the existing building – the exact make-up of the development will be determined when a detailed planning application is submitted.

Whilst the current application is in outline form, it is anticipated the dwellings will be conventional two storey in height and so lower in height than the existing building. Each dwelling will also have a commensurate size garden with adequate parking.

Mount Craig Hall was purchased by the applicants Paramount Homes Ltd approximately 35 years ago. At that time the property was already in use as apartments having already been converted, extended and significantly altered from its hotel status.

The building is not listed nor is it within a conservation or considered to be a non-designated heritage asset.

In recent years, the owner has attempted to carry out renovation works to several apartments, but this revealed major structural defects in the walls partly caused by extensive dry rot which has culminated in the company ceasing any further renovation works.

This resulted in four apartments been condemned as uninhabitable and the applicants are now struggling to obtain valid Energy Performance Certificates for the remaining apartments due to poor insulation and electrical work.

Despite representations being made to the Ross Gazette at the time the planning application was first submitted, no formal objections were made to Herefordshire Council aside from one suggesting that 12 Swift nest bricks should be installed as part of a specialist condition to provide enhancement for biodiversity.

Planning officer Heather Carlisle admitted that Pencraig was not located within a settlement and that former hotel site clearly relates to a development proposal outside of the settlement boundary.

She added: “The principle of development for residential use of the site is accepted because in this case the nearby settlements of Goodrich and Whitchurch provide a range of local services and facilities.

The planners acknowledged that Pencraig exhibits a varied built form comprising a mix of property types, sizes and materials used.

Ms Carlisle observed that the existing building on the application site presents as a single structure, but it has evolved over time through the addition of a series of interconnected elements dating from the 19th century onwards.

She said: “As a result of this organic development, the building displays a varied form, incorporating components of differing scale, orientation, height and external materials.

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“Officers are satisfied that the site is capable of accommodating the proposed development without resulting in unacceptable harm to landscape character, visual amenity, highway safety or any other identified planning interest.”