Bridlington Civic Society Expresses Concerns Over Golf Course Development

Plans for new 84-room hotel at a golf course at a Sewerby hotel are set to go before East Riding councillors later this month amid fears of over development.

Plans lodged by Pure Leisure propose building the one and a half storey hotel at the Links Golf Course it owns in Flamborough Road.

The company plans to offer overnight accommodation for weekend golfing breaks and holidays and a clubhouse for weddings and other social and corporate events.

But two objections have been lodged against the plans, with one claiming the development and other recent ones are leading to the increased urbanisation of Flamborough Head, a protected area.

It comes as East Riding Council’s Planning Committee is set to hear the application on Thursday, April 28.

Pure Leisure’s plans state the hotel would be smaller than some of the former Danes Dyke farm buildings which previously occupied the site and stood at two storeys tall.

They added that although rooms would be spread across two floors, the use of a dormer roof would give it the appearance of a one and a half storey building.

The plans stated:

“The scale of the hotel strikes the right balance between meeting the minimum number of bedrooms required to make a new purpose built hotel viable and respecting the character of the area and heritage coast.

“The scale of the hotel also reflects the findings in the Council’s Tourism Accommodation Study which refers to a need for 60 plus bedroom hotels within the Bridlington Coastal area.”

Plans state that the hotel is designed to give the best possible views over the surrounding golf course and coastline.

They include 95 parking spaces and the hotel would also be less than 15 minutes from Bridlington Railway Station by bike and around eight minutes by car.

Access to the hotel would be off Moor Road which currently also serves the golf couse.

No objections were received from public bodies after Historic England, Natural England and Public Rights of Way and Countryside Access withdrew their initial objections.

But one local and the Bridlington and District Civic society have lodged objections over fears of over-development.

The Society stated:

“We are concerned at the increasing urbanisation of the Flamborough Head Coastal Landscape through the recent expansion of tourism facilities such as the caravan or leisure parks that have been granted in the last few years.

“The current application by The Links Golf Course continues this worrying trend.

“There is a need to balance economic activity and viability through quality tourism but to avoid doing so at the expense of degrading the reasons for attracting tourism.

“It is an overly large development for the landscape and the large car park for the hotel visitors and staff is also very dominant.

“The increase in visitors and traffic around the golf course and hotel will add to the pressure on the wild life of the area which is already affected by the users of the enlarged caravan parks.”

Council planning officers stated although the hotel would change the landscape, the site’s previous use as a farm and the current golf course lessened its impact.

Officers have recommended the plans be deferred for talks to get the developer to make a financial contribution to the European Marine Site Management Group.

The committee’s decision is on the outline, or principle, of development with reserved matters such as appearance and scale to be heard at a later date.