The former Madeira Cove Hotel in Birnbeck Road is under possible threat of demolition rather than repurposing through conversion

The Madeira Cove occupies a middle position in a group of four imposing villas built in the Victorian Italianate style.  They lie within the Birnbeck/Great Weston Conservation Area and Heritage Action Zone and form part of the sweeping terraces of villas that make a substantial contribution to the character and appearance of the Birnbeck conservation area.

There is no suggestion that the building has any significant structural defects that would justify demolition and rebuild, rather than conversion into flats.

North Somerset Council refused permission to demolish but the owner appealed to the Planning Inspectorate (a separate governmental body divorced from the Council). Despite the Planning Inspector stating the main issue was the effect of the proposed demolition and new build on the character and appearance of the Great Weston Conservation Area, in effect the appeal was decided on the financial return the owner might secure through demolition and building new flats, versus converting the existing building;  Here the Inspector essentially accepted the owner’s rather than the Council’s calculations. The appeal was allowed and permission for demolition granted by the Inspector in December 2019.  You can download the appeal here.

Climate change:  The threat of demolition now impending,  comes at a time also when the Royal Institute of British Architects has in 2021 stated a policy in favour of refurbishing and converting old buildings rather than scrapping them, so as to harness the embodied carbon, owing to the substantial carbon impacts on climate change involved in demolition and new construction. We have been in communication with the owner initially via their planning advisers and sales agent asking them to please reconsider alternatives to demolition and the situation remains ongoing. Meanwhile, if you’re concerned about potential loss to Weston’s character and appearance, as well as the significant contribution that demolition and rebuild makes to climate change, please contact us:

Please use our contact page here: (Link)

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