Council to use compulsory purchase powers to protect and save listed hotel
Telford & Wrekin Council’s Planning Committee has approved officer’s recommendations that the Council should enter into proceedings for a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the Royal Victoria Hotel in Newport, in order to save and protect the important Grade II listed building.
Currently privately owned, the 193-year-old former hotel on St Mary’s Street in Newport was granted planning permission for conversion into residential flats, but the work was never completed.
In January this year, due to concerns over public safety, the Council successfully applied for a magistrates’ court order to secure the site and scaffolding, to remove danger to the public. As the work was not completed within the court’s timescales, Telford & Wrekin Council carried out the works in March 2023 and further maintenance works in October 2023 to ensure public safety and is in the process of recovering those costs.
To protect the structure of the listed building, a repairs notice was also served on the owner in July 2023, having warned the owner of this action earlier in the year. As no action has been taken to address this work, the Planning Committee considered there was no other reasonable measures to address the poor state of the statutory protected building, and agreed to the compulsory purchase of the Royal Victoria Hotel.
Councillor Richard Overton (Lab), Telford & Wrekin Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes and Enforcement, said: “The Royal Victoria Hotel is an historically important Grade II listed building in the heart of Newport town centre, and the Newport Conservation Area.
“As a council, we have tried on a number of occasions to work with the owner to protect this listed building and bring forward suitable development of the site. We are hugely disappointed that the site was mothballed with no maintenance, threatening public safety and the fabric of the building and despite serving a notice to carry out repairs to the building, the owner has taken no action.
“Throughout the process, we have reassured the public that our aim is to protect the building and we have no intention to allow it to be de-listed and demolished. As a result of inaction and the deliberate and purposeful neglect by the owner, we now have no alternative but to apply for a compulsory purchase of the Royal Victoria Hotel, in order to secure the building, protect it for the future and ensure public safety.”
“It is our intention to seek the compulsory purchase at ‘minimal consideration’.
