Plans to spend £20m redeveloping closed hotel

About 100 new jobs could be created in Newquay as part of plans to spend £20m on a well-known landmark hotel, developers have revealed.

Proposals to redevelop the Hotel Victoria and neighbouring buildings have been unveiled to the public by the Nicolas James Group and include a four to five-star hotel, along with 77 new apartments.

The hotel, a mainstay on Newquay's East Street since 1899, closed suddenly last November with its accompanying nightclub, pub and Mexican restaurant.

Mayor of Newquay Drew Creek said reinvesting into the community was important.

He said: "The question around the apartments and the housing that they're producing here is always the question, are they truly affordable?

"Are they in the reach of local people, which is of course what we desperately need here in Newquay."

Unveiling the proposals on Monday, construction director Drew Wrintmore said the development would create 100 jobs in the town.

He said: "In order to be able to do that, we need to be able to have the engine of the residential development to be able to fund that.

"Viability, when we eventually get the final design of the scheme, will determine whether or not there is any affordable housing... but the properties will not be priced out of regular market range."

Mr Wrintmore said the money would be put towards the root of the hotel's issues.

He said: "High-end hotels in vibrant towns work really, really well, but they need to be done properly.

"The hotel itself, the fabric is almost falling apart, especially the roof of it.

"The investment in it, a lot of it you'll see, but a lot of it you won't see because it will be buried in the fabric of the building."

Resident Linda said it would be a "crying shame" to build new apartments next to the hotel site.

She said: "If it keeps its front, as it says on those pictures, then that's fine.

"But to build cardboard boxes next door that we can walk down the barrow fields and see, I think is a shame. It's a crying shame."

Jenny Jelbert, from the town, said she was "concerned about losing heritage places and overcrowding".

Max Pocklington cleaned the windows of the hotel for 20 years before it closed.

He said such investment was needed and he was "very happy" with the plans.

"I think it's going to be very good," he said.

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