Quinn Hotels Proposed Redevelopment of the Belfry Hotel, North Warwickshire Environmental Statement Need for the Development A

QUINN HOTELS

PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT OF THE BELFRY HOTEL, NORTH WARWICKSHIRE

ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT

NEED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES

July 2007

Chapter 5

CONTENTS

5.0 NEED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES ... 1 Introduction ...... 1 Development Location ...... 1 Consideration of Alternatives ...... 4 Conclusions ...... 15

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5.0 NEED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES

Introduction

5.1 This section of the ES examines whether there is a ‘need’ for the development. An important component of this assessment is an evaluation of what alternative approaches were considered for securing a long-term sustainable future for the Belfry Hotel.

5.2 This section begins by examining whether the existing Belfry site is the most appropriate location to accommodate the form of development proposed. It then considers whether an alternative to the substantial major redevelopment of The Belfry, in the form of refurbishment of the expositing property could be an alternative to the development proposed. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the alternative form of major redevelopment considered by Quinn Hotels prior to preferring the development that is now proposed by the planning application.

Development Location

5.3 The principle of need for the proposed development is both recognised and established by Sport England in their ‘Framework for Sport in England’, advice received by Quinn Hotels from The Heart of England Tourist Board, a survey undertaken by ‘Golf Today’ and a decline in visitor numbers at The Belfry, symptomatic of a steady decline in the reputation of the Hotel as a golf venue and business tourism destination.

5.4 The key message from these documents and from consultation feedback to Quinn Hotels, is that the opportunity exists to build on the internationally recognised brand of The Belfry to successfully achieve a resort hotel and golf venue to compete with the very best in the UK and abroad, for international tourists, footloose business tourism and major golf events. This opportunity arises because of the location of The Belfry Hotel as an integral element of the world famous golf courses and also derives from the location of the site close to international transport hubs of Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International Rail Station and close to the national strategic road network with the M6, M42 and M6 Toll Road all being within very close proximity to the site. The juxtaposition of The Belfry with these transport ‘gateways’ and the regional tourist attractions offered by central Birmingham, Stratford on Avon and Warwick as well as LON\05 – Need for the Development and Consideration of Alternatives 1

a host of other significant tourist attractions in the locality, result in the location being ideal to capitalise on the opportunities for major tourism-related economic success.

5.5 The findings from the above mentioned documents and inputs from strategic tourism authorities are described briefly below.

Framework for Sport in England

5.6 The Belfry is an iconic destination with an international reputation and is therefore a very important tourist asset, not just for North Warwickshire but also for the region and the UK.

5.7 The important role of golf and the need to encourage the continuing growth of this sport is recognised by Sport England, in their ‘Framework for Sport in England’, which identifies golf as one of ten priority sports for England. The economic importance of golf to the region should also not be under-estimated, as emphasised by the ‘Value of The Sports Economy in The Regions: The case of The West Midlands’. The role of The Belfry as a key fixture in the golfing world is identified in the above report which highlighted The Belfry as a key feature of sport in the West Midlands. The Belfry is held in high esteem and has hosted the Ryder Cup four times.

Golf Today Survey

5.8 The need for continued investment in tourist facilities is underlined by the falling profile of the Belfry in recent years. Surveys undertaken for one of the sector’s leading publications, ‘Golf Today’, suggest that the Belfry’s decline in profile specifically relates to a perceived poor quality of accommodation. The Belfry was ranked 1st when golfers were asked which golf course they most aspired to play. However, in contrast, the same survey ranked the Belfry at number 97 when participants were asked which golf courses have the best overall standard of facilities. It is widely recognised that the poor quality of accommodation is the key factor which is letting the Belfry down in this respect. The implications of this are directly reflected by the PGA’s decision not to recommend the Belfry to host the Ryder Cup in 2022, unless it improves its facilities.

5.9 Potential visitors often have an expectation that the quality of the accommodation and associated facilities offered by the Belfry will compare favourably to that offered at other prestigious golf courses such as Turnbury, Glen Eagles, Celtic Manor and The

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Grove. This includes an expectation of luxurious, spacious accommodation and an overall layout which flows easily and is easy to navigate around.

5.10 Advice from the Heart of England Tourist Board is that the perceived inadequacy of hotel accommodation at The Belfry compared to that expected to be associated with such prestigious golfing facilities is perhaps not surprising. The Belfry has been developed incrementally over a number of decades and consequently represents a sprawling hotchpotch development. There is a need for a comprehensive investment package at The Belfry which will involve the purpose designed changes in the layout required to enable the standards of accommodation and layout outlined above.

5.11 An investment of the scale proposed would also enable The Belfry to increase the region’s tourism profile. For example, the redevelopment would allow the star-rating of the Belfry hotel to increase from 4* equivalent to 5*. This would accord with the objectives of the Regional Tourism Strategy for the West Midlands to be an international visitor destination, which are currently undermined by the lack of any 5* hotels in the West Midlands.

The Belfry Business Case

5.12 A separate report is submitted with the panning application which outlines the business need for the redevelopment of The Belfry. This report concludes that the existing Belfry, based on an adapted former stable block along with a number of aesthetically unsatisfactory additions made over a number of years in a variety of architectural styles, fails to fully maximise the potential of the site as an international high class leisure destination and sporting venue. The premises are dated and the ability to provide modern, efficient and low environmental impact service is limited by the inefficient layout of the premises, the age and condition of the buildings and associate infrastructure, for example, the 64 boilers, 12 kitchens and the small bedrooms with no ability to install air conditioning.

5.13 The Belfry has declined in reputation as a leisure venue over recent years and is set to continue to do so unless radical steps are taken to reverse this. The quality of business customer has declined and the likelihood of major golf tournaments, particularly the Ryder Cup, being staged at The Belfry again has been confirmed as most unlikely without major enhancement to the hotel and support facilities offered.

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5.14 Given all of the above, it can be seen that the location of the proposed development, at The Belfry site, is the only alternative to securing a standard of hotel and golf development of the quality to attract substantial domestic and international tourism as well as re-invigorate the business tourism capability of the area. The decline in the quality of the golf-related support facilities that has been experienced, needs to be reversed if the Midlands is not to lose it’s only internationally prestigious golfing venue.

5.15 Quinn Hotels proposes to address the decline of The Belfry by a comprehensive redevelopment of the site for a 5* world class luxury hotel, leisure and spa facility, an international standard golf venue and new PGA Headquarters and Academy. The new Hotel will attract UK and international visitors to North Warwickshire and ensure that the reputation of The Belfry is enhanced. It will result in a significant boost to the local and regional tourist economy and ensure that The Belfry is able to compete with other UK venues to restore confidence in a waning business tourism market and be considered to host major PGA golf tournaments including future Ryder Cup matches.

Consideration of Alternatives

5.16 In considering the future of The Belfry, there has been careful consideration of the alternative approaches which are potentially available. The remaining sections of this Chapter of the ES outline the process which was undertaken at a local level to determine the most appropriate option to bring forward a sustainable future for the development, explains the different alternatives which were considered and briefly summarises the justification for pursuing the preferred option.

5.17 As outlined above, the Belfry site was chosen as the preferred option for redevelopment because it is the only site in North Warwickshire where the redevelopment of a 5* golfing hotel can be located, where an established international profile can secure visitor numbers required to support a 5* luxury resort hotel investment and can build on a existing international reputation. The Belfry site benefits from proximity to international transport hubs and good access to the strategic road network, is located on previously developed land where the lawful use of the land is for Use Class C1 (hotel). The three golf courses are also in existence and, consequently, redevelopment of this site would not introduce a new form of built development onto unspoilt Warwickshire countryside.

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5.18 The redevelopment of any other site in North Warwickshire to include the type of facilities which exist at the Belfry would require an extremely large site to accommodate the scale of development proposed. Therefore, the redevelopment of the existing hotel buildings would result in less of an impact on the environment than having to develop a site to include 5* equivalent hotel comprising 500 bedrooms, leisure club, function rooms and ancillary facilities, three golf courses and the PGA National Academy.

5.19 Initially, Quinn Hotels considered two approaches: ‘Do nothing’ and ‘improve the existing Belfry’. These are discussed below:

Do Nothing

5.20 As set out above, Quinn Hotels is faced with declining visitor numbers at The Belfry and a hotel that is becoming increasingly outdated and unable to compete with other similar hotels in the UK. A ‘do nothing’ approach would mean that Quinn Hotels would fail to attract the Ryder Cup back to The Belfry unless the facilities at the hotel are substantially improved. Further, major business tourism opportunities would continue to be lost to other regions or overseas. Both of these scenarios are unacceptable business propositions to Quinn Hotels.

5.21 Refurbishment of the existing hotel was considered. However, this would not result in a sufficiently radical upgrade of the property to reverse the decline in business and it would fail to result in a 5* facility being introduced to the Midlands in line with the regional tourism strategy. As described above, the dated nature of the property and the dispersed supporting infrastructure (kitchens/boilers etc), is such that refurbishment could not solve these fundamental flaws.

5.22 In summary, the lost opportunity of not proceeding with the development in response to the needs of the tourism economy in North Warwickshire and the Midlands would be:

A lost opportunity to maximise the use of a large existing site, with an established reputation for the international promotion of golf;

A leakage of tourism and business tourism expenditure from North Warwickshire to other golf hotels in the Country or overseas; and

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The Belfry will fail to secure major golf tournaments including the Ryder Cup with a consequent impact on the venue’s reputation which would further exacerbate the problems associated with business decline.

To Improve the Existing Belfry Hotel

5.23 Careful consideration of the existing hotel buildings has been undertaken during the evolution of the development proposals. Viable elements in terms of quality and location within the site have been identified. However, many of the current buildings are increasingly outdated for a modern hotel operators needs and would need renewal in any future event. Declining visitors to The Belfry and the reductions n income result from these inadequacies which are not capable of being resolved by superficial refurbishments.

5.24 The current buildings, either in a refurbished state, or extended, will not provide the critical mass, or quality of space that is necessary to improve the hotel and attract visitors back to the Belfry. Retention of the exiting building stock would reduce the positive impact of new higher quality development.

5.25 Based on the two alternatives above, the application proposals presented the only viable option for the redevelopment of The Belfry Hotel by Quinn Hotels that would enable them to fulfil the requirements and ensure that the Ryder Cup returned back to The Belfry. Therefore, for the reasons outlined above Quinn Hotels considered it necessary to redevelop the hotel. The subsequent section discusses the appointment of an architect, the generation of options and appraises the alternative schemes proposed.

Appraisal of Alternatives Considered

5.26 On the 18th July 2006, five architects were invited to tender for the redevelopment of The Belfry in line with Quinn Hotels’ aspirations and the design/planning policy parameters of the site.

5.27 The architect’s brief can be summarised as involving the following:

1. “To construct and develop a 5 star World Class Hotel, Golf, Leisure and Spa Resort” with the intention to attract national and international travellers for business and leisure events and to ensure that The Belfry is considered as a host for future major golf events including Ryder Cup matches.

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2. To construct a resort hotel which is designed to the highest quality, introduces leading edge sustainable building design initiatives and is architecturally sympathetic to the local surrounding and history of the area and The Belfry itself.

3. The removal of existing low quality hotel accommodation including bedrooms, leisure, banqueting and golf facilities.

4. To address the role of the iconic frontage of The Belfry overlooking the Brabazon course and to develop a separate world-class clubhouse with associated facilities.

5. To deign a building or buildings which reflect the Green Belt status of the site.

5.28 The overall aim of the proposals is to enhance the quality of product offered by the hotel and associated facilities and increase visitor volumes whilst decreasing the intensity of use of the development. The proposals will elevate The Belfry into a world-class hotel and resort and enable it to offer sporting, business, leisure/spa and tourist accommodation of an international standard, such that major golf events including the Ryder Cup can be secured. The exceptional high quality of product to be offered by The Belfry will also be enabled by the countryside setting, central location and transport links within the United Kingdom from which it benefits and will continue to be one of its unique selling points.

Design Parameters

Building location: a comprehensive landscape appraisal in the context of Green Belt planning policy was required as a first step in understanding the design parameters of the locality. Architects were required to address the requirement to decrease (or at least not worsen) the visual impact of the built development on the openness of the surrounding area and for the form and general design of the buildings to be in keeping with their surroundings.

Building phasing: in the context of the findings of the above landscape analysis, consideration was necessary for the following options:

1. New development on a separate site (or partly separate site); and

2. Complete demolition of all existing buildings (except PGA Offices), other than the traditional elevation to the Brabazon Golf Course, which will form the frontage the new Belfry Club House.

Building Footprint: no increase in land-take for built development. Building massing will be required to be sensitive to the results of the landscape and visual appraisal. This will enable the proposals to address Green Belt policy objectives for the area.

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Car parking and sustainable transport: provision is necessary for an appropriate level of car parking to be agreed between the transport consultant and client reflecting a lower intensity of use of The Belfry. A package of sustainable transport measures is to be provided with a brief to be supplied by the transport consultant.

Golf Course enhancements: working with the golf course designer, the scheme architect shall consider the area of cut material, for example, within the PGA/Derby golf courses, driving range perimeter or external perimeter to reduce the visual impact from public view points (cut material may be available if underground or lower ground floor car parking is to be established).

5.29 Each architect provided an initial scheme for the redevelopment, responding to the above Brief, each of which are appraised below:

Option 1

5.30 This option (see figures 1, 2, 3) located the development broadly within the footprint of the existing Belfry ‘built envelope’. However, the interaction of hotel and golf facilities did not meet client expectations relating to the separation of these functions for operational reasons and the development was considered to be incapable of reduction to meet potential planning requirements should it be necessary to amend due to feedback following the EIA process, for example.

5.31 The architectural approach was considered to be too ‘inward looking’ and opportunities for landscaping to ‘penetrate’ the building limited. Further, the indicated PGA accommodation, while potentially striking, would be hard to accommodate in the countryside setting and impractical from the perspective of operational Training Academy requirements.

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Figure 1: Proposed Block Plan

Figure 2: Proposed Cross Section Figure 3: Proposed PGA Accommodation

Option 2

5.32 Option 2, (see figures 4 and 5) represented and ‘angular approach to the architectural and master panning treatment of the development. It incorporated extensive lower level accommodation which occupied substantially more land that the existing Belfry development. It therefore failed to address one of the fundamental objectives of the Brief.

5.33 The extent of development facing the golf courses, while maximising views across the open countryside to the north, also resulted in the potential for significant visual impacts of development form these areas.

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5.34 The proposal would be difficult to phase in a way which allowed satisfactory retention of business during the construction programme.

Figure 4: Proposed Site Plan

Figure 5: Ariel View of Main Proposed Entrance

Option 3

5.35 This option (see figures 6 and 7) provided the opportunity to contain the major part of the development within the heavily treed area to the rear of the existing Belfry development and addressed the challenge of the site’s Green Belt location, such that the new development occupied less floor area than the existing complex.

5.36 The option allowed the opportunity to phase the development while retaining an open Belfry facility and with relatively minor adjustments, could meet the operation objectives of the client.

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Figure 6: Proposed Site Plan Figure 7: Proposed Elevations

Option 4

5.37 This option (see figure 8 and 9) sought to maximise the views across the open countryside and golf courses to the north west while containing buildings on the site of the existing Belfry complex. However, new development would substantially extend the existing ‘built envelope’ and insufficient regard had been made to the site’s Green Belt status in terms of the possible effects of development on the area’s ‘openness’.

Figure 8: Proposed Site Plan

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Figure 9: Proposed Elevations

5.34 The proposal suggested an approach to architecture that would represent a ‘heavy’ use of materials which was felt to fail to reflect the opportunities for reflective material adjacent to the wooded environment of the immediate vicinity.

5.35 From the perspective of construction, the proposal could not be easily phased without substantial and potentially fatal consequences for the retained hotel and golf centre business.

Option 5

5.38 This option sought to maximise views across the golf courses and open countryside while also dividing the hotel complex into two separate buildings within a landscaped setting. The south facing elevation sought to maximise light penetration by addressing the sun path but resulted in substantial removal of the existing mature tees in the important woodland area to the rear of the Belfry.

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Figure 10: Proposed Site Plan

Figure: 11: Proposed Elevations

5.39 The design approach to maximising views across the golf courses to the north resulted in substantial visual impact of development from this direction. It was considered hat this impact was unlikely to be capable of satisfactory mitigation.

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Appointment of an Architect

5.40 Reardon Smith Architects was appointed as architects for the redevelopment of the Belfry in November 2005 because their proposed scheme (option 3) secured the following objectives:

The hotel proposals were considered likely to not worsen the visual impact of the development on the open countryside (Green Belt);

The building footprint of the proposed scheme decreased the amount of land- take of that currently occupied by the existing hotel complex;

The proposals considered the phased development and construction of the hotel enabling operations at the hotel to continue;

The architect had considerable experience in bringing forward high quality hotel designs and understood the aspirations of t Quinn Hotels to deliver high quality and sustainable building design.

Preferred Option Refinement

5.41 Since Reardon Smith’s original design proposals were accepted by Quinn Hotels as the basis for a new Belfry, there have been a number of amendments to the scheme which have taken into consideration North Warwickshire Borough Council’s input on scheme design regarding the need to mitigate against the impact of the scale of the proposed hotel on the surrounding open countryside (Green Belt), and ongoing client refinement of the quality of the development to meet their aspirations for the very highest quality luxury resort hotel in this location.

5.42 In addition to the further design development of the scheme in consultation with NWBC and client advice, the results of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) have fed into design refinement such that the development proposed for planning permission takes account of the results of EIA and mitigation, where possible, has been fully included in the proposals to minimise any adverse environmental effects of the development, both at construction and operation stages.

Initial Scheme Refinement

5.43 Reardon Smith Architects proposed a 600 bedroom, seven storey hotel comprising 2000 car parking spaces, including two underground levels, beneath the hotel building, new entrances and landscaping. In July 2006, a presentation was made to North Warwickshire Borough Council (NWBC) to show the proposed development to

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a panel of Council Members and planning officers. The Member’s panel concluded that:

the height of the scheme would be likely to have a significant impact on the visual amenity of the open countryside (Green Belt);

the height of the hotel should not extend above the existing tree line formed by the substantial woodland area to the south and west of the existing hotel complex;

a reduction in the amount of car parking spaces should occur in conjunction with the reduction in bedrooms spaces ;

a justification for the number of hotel bedroom (600) would be required to allow NWBC to consider the acceptability of the scale of development proposed.

Further Scheme Refinement

5.44 Further to the presentation and comments received on the initial scheme in July 2006, the design of the hotel was further amended to address the comments received from officers and Members, to incorporate feedback from EIA and to ensure compatibility with client aspirations. The hotel proposals were revised to include 500 bedrooms and 1600 car parking spaces split between surface and underground parking, with the majority of parking being below ground. This amount of car parking was discussed with NWBC officers and both the numbers of spaces and the design solution to removing the car parking spaces from public view by introducing 900 spaces below the driving range, broadly agreed. In conjunction with the reduction in the total number of bedrooms, the height of the hotel was lowered by one storey to ensure that the height of the building did not extend above the existing tree line of the dense woodland area within which the proposed new hotel building was located.

Conclusions

5.45 The application proposals present the only viable option for the reversal of the decline in the reputation of The Belfry and the continued economic success of the business in this location, which is of significant importance to the economy of North Warwickshire, the Midlands region and the UK.

5.46 Development of a 5* Luxury golf resort hotel at this location is more likely to succeed than if the development were located elsewhere, because it can take advantage of the iconic sporting reputation of The Belfry and the locational advantages of the site.

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Further, redevelopment of the existing buildings represents an opportunity to upgrade an existing development, enhance the Green Belt function of the site and avoid the need to develop a new hotel facility and golf courses on undeveloped land.

5.47 It has been established that the existing Belfry location is the most appropriate to accommodate the form of development proposed. Quinn Hotels has considered the option of a major refurbishment of the existing buildings on the site as an alternative to a new development. This was dismissed because it would fail to overcome the fundamental design and operational flaws in the existing property and fail to secure the status of development sought by the regional tourism strategy. Refurbishment would therefore, not result a reversal of the downward trend in venue reputation and business, which is the ‘driver’ for redevelopment.

5.48 Having determined, through the consideration of alternatives, to redevelop The Belfry to provide a 5* luxury golf resort, Quinn Hotels assessed a number of alternative forms of development to determine the extent to which these alternatives would meet their aspirations at the site. This assessment was undertaken by way of an architectural competition. Those suggested design approaches which failed to meet the objectives for the site, both in terms of client design aspirations and planning policy were dismissed and that considered to best fit these objectives best was selected for further design refinement.

5.49 Design development of the preferred alternative was progressed in consultation with the local and strategic planning authorities, client design review and feedback form environmental impact assessment. This process led to the design solution which is subject to the current planning application and which is assessed in this document in terms of EIA.

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