Premier Inn’s application for an early hours drinks licence at its £6 million hotel, which is set to open in Keswick in 2022, has been described as rubbing salt into the wounds of those who opposed the controversial scheme.
That was the view as town councillors reluctantly conceded there was nothing they could do to block the national hotel chain’s request to Allerdale Borough Council to allow alcohol to be served from 10am to 12.30am every day of the week.
“It is pretty standard for a hotel,” said Allan Daniels, who is a member of both Keswick and Allerdale council. “I don’t think it raises any concerns. It is just a normal licence application.”
His view was shared by Paul Titley, Keswick’s mayor, who chaired last Thursday night’s online town council meeting when the licence application, which will allow drinking up to 1am, was discussed.
“I tend to agree. I was disappointed it (the planning application) was approved. It (the licence application) just rubs salt in the wound.
“We have a number of much more attractive pubs in town. I can’t see the Premier Inn being the ‘go to’ place for people who want a drink,” said Mr Titley.
Deputy mayor David Burn agreed, saying it was with a “heavy heart” that he was not offering any objection.
Guesthouse owner Tony Pinnick, who had led the public campaign against the 71-bedroom hotel, joined the town council’s Zoom meeting.
He said: “I don’t have a strong and hard view of it. However, a number of people have raised this (the licence application) as a concern for various reasons.”
More than 3,000 people signed an on-line petition against brewery giant Whitbread, which owns Premier Inn, having a three-storey hotel built on the site of the former Ravensfield residential home in High Hill.
The town council also objected to it, citing overdevelopment and a lack car parking, but the Lake District National Park Authority last month approved the plan, paving the way for Keswick’s first national chain hotel to open in 2022.
The hotel, which will create 30 jobs, will have a ground floor bar and restaurant.
There will be 29 on-site car parking spaces at the back of the hotel next to the old Keswick School of Industrial Arts building.