Mayo hotel applies for permission to expand by 72 bedrooms

A planning application has been lodged with Mayo County Council to expand a Westport hotel by 72 bedrooms and develop a new basement carpark.

The Wyatt Hotel Unlimited located on the Octagon in Westport has applied for planning permission to develop a three storey extension over a semi-basement car park to the rear and sides of the existing hotel with a total gross floor area of 5,333 square metres. The development will comprise 72 additional bedrooms including altering some existing bedrooms, as well as 88 new basement car park spaces, and 20 new public car park spaces at surface level off Church Street.

Part of the development will be located on lands off Church Street behind the Westport Leisure Centre which was owned by Mayo County Council and was controversially sold to the Wyatt Hotel for €675,000.

In July, members of Mayo County Council passed a motion at the monthly meeting to dispose of 0.67 acres of land at Church Lane in Westport to the owners of the hotel despite calls from some councillors to defer the purchase.

The decision was deemed controversial at the time as a campaign against the sale of the green space was led by Westport Action for Youth and supported by the Westport Family and Community Resource Centre which resulted in a protest outside Áras an Chontae before the start of the meeting.

In the planning application lodged by Cox Power Architects on behalf of the Wyatt Hotel, the applicants stated that the new design will be a 'modern sustainable building' oriented towards the public park and Church Street which strengthens 'the street and park edges and pedestrian links between Westport House, Church Street, the Carrowbeg River, the Leisure Centre and James Street.

“The proposed development will make a significant contribution to the overall appearance and amenity of the area, will diversify and strengthen the mix of activities, benefit the vitality and viability of the Town Centre and add to the footfall in the area,” the design report stated.

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The report also stated that the new building is designed to cope with change and in particular climate change and it is proposed that a number of energy-efficient and sustainable technologies will be used, such as photovoltaic solar panels, heat exchangers and heat pumps.

The existing building systems will also be upgraded to change to energy-efficient and sustainable technologies.

It is expected that the new development will create an additional 35 new jobs to the hotel and 'will substantially increase the number of visitors and footfall in the town benefitting commercial, cultural, sporting and leisure activities for all'.

The design report also outlined that the existing houses adjoining the hotel building on Church Street, currently used for staff accommodation, are to be replaced with a new extension facing Church Street and wrapping around the corner to face the public park and the Westport House entrance.

A decision on planning permission for the development is expected to be made by mid December.