Listed Building Consent for partial demolition of Listed Building to facilitate refurbishment and extension of the George Hotel
Image of the proposed new look George Hotel
Application Number 2023/90112 (click on number to go to full application on Kirklees planning website)
Listed Building Consent for partial demolition of Listed Building to facilitate refurbishment and extension of the George Hotel to form 90+ room hotel.
As a result of action by Huddersfield Civic Society committee member Geoff Hughes the Victorian Society – the national body specialising in Victorian age buildings – was invited by Kirklees Council to comment on plans for partial demolition of, and extensions to, the George Hotel.
The Victorian Society is scathing of aspects of the council’s proposals, saying its principal concerns to be “the lack of a convincing justification for the demolition and the proposed extension’s inappropriate design for a very prominent and historically significant location beside the Grade I Listed Huddersfield station.”
The Society’s response says the proposed hotel extension would be “visually jarring and greatly distract from the carefully executed classical design of the hotel and neighbouring heritage assets.”
It continues: “It is surprising that the design of this extension is so poor and low quality. The massing and design of the proposed extension would cause substantial harm to this heritage asset and less than substantial harm to the Huddersfield Town Centre Conservation Area.”
The Victorian Society suggests that alternative options exist for increasing the number of bedrooms at the hotel and comments that, given the “huge amount of local authority and Historic England funds spent on conservation works to this building it seems bizarre that this scheme seeks to demolish and façade large parts of a heritage asset both Historic England and the local authority have spent money on to conserve.”
The Kirklees Council planning website states that the council is due to make a decision on applications regarding the George Hotel in the next month.
Read the full letter from The Victorian Society below.