Agenda item

Report of Director of Regeneration and Planning.

Cabinet lead members:  Councillors Steve Wallis and Margaret Bannister.

Tourist accommodation retention supplementary planning document approved for publication for a 6 week consultation period to receive representations and comments.

(2) Director of Regeneration and Planning, in consultation with the lead cabinet member, granted delegated authority to make minor amendments before the commencement of the representation period.

26.1 Cabinet considered report of the director of regeneration and planning.  The council had prepared a tourist accommodation retention supplementary planning document (SPD) to update the planning policy position in relation to tourist accommodation as a result of changes in visitor behaviour and attitudes in recent years.  The revised policy aimed to help the tourist accommodation stock remain fit for purpose and meet the requirements of current and future visitors.   Once approved, the SPD would allow a new interpretation of existing policy until such time as the new local plan was adopted (expected 2020).  The SPD had been developed in consultation with Local Plan Steering Group and the Eastbourne Hospitality Association.  The draft had been informed by a tourist accommodation study, produced in 2015 by consultants Acorn Tourism Consulting Ltd. and influenced by consultation responses received on the seafront local plan issues and options report.

26.2 The conclusion of the study was that there was a need to rebalance and diversify the supply of tourist accommodation with future emphasis on quality rather than quantity.  This would allow Eastbourne’s tourist accommodation to develop more organically and in turn appeal to and attract new markets.   The way that the existing planning guidance interpreted the borough plan policy was very restrictive and made it difficult for lower quality stock in areas that were located in streets away the seafront to change use in order to allow them to exit the market.

26.3 There were a number of issues that the new policy approach needed to address.  These had been taken into account through the drafting of the new SPD:-

·         Retaining an appropriate amount of accommodation .

·         Rebalancing the tourist accommodation stock to meet market demands.

·         Protecting the character of the seafront.

·         Clear and consistent policy.

·         Encourage owners to run their businesses appropriately.

As the borough plan policy could not be changed, the existing tourist accommodation area remained.  However, to facilitate the rebalancing of the tourist accommodation stock, the SPD proposed to split the tourist accommodation area into a primary sector and a secondary sector. 

26.4 The primary sector (with some 60 hotels and guesthouses, equating to approximately 2,600 rooms) comprised the prime locations on the seafront with unobstructed sea views.  Within these areas, significant amounts of evidence would be required to demonstrate that the continuing use of land as tourist accommodation was not viable, as these prime locations were where tourist accommodation should be most viable.

26.5 The secondary sector (with some 25 hotels and guesthouses, equating to approximately 500 rooms) comprised the locations behind the seafront that did not have views of the sea or face onto gardens/squares.  26.6 It was in these locations where there was a large concentration of lower quality accommodation that was struggling to compete, and this was where there should be a gradual reduction of poor quality stock, which in turn should help stimulate investment in better quality accommodation appealing to a broader range of visitors.  Within these areas, the SPD would allow additional flexibility, with less onerous evidence requirements to justify a change of use, and more options in terms of partial conversion.

26.7 The draft SPD would be subject to a 6-week consultation period between 23 September and 4 November 2016 to allow stakeholders and the local community to comment and make representations.  Following consultation, a summary of representations would be prepared and a revised SPD presented to Local Plan Steering Group for endorsement, followed by submission to cabinet and then full council for approval and adoption in February 2017.

26.8 Resolved (key decision): (1) That the tourist accommodation retention supplementary planning document be approved for publication for a 6 week consultation period to receive representations and comments.

(2) That the Director of Regeneration and Planning, in consultation with the lead cabinet member, be granted delegated authority to make minor amendments before the commencement of the representation period.