Fresh plans to demolish the Woodside Hotel have been submitted to Warwick District Council.

The scheme - which could see 55 homes built on the site - has been put forward by Vistry Partnership West Midlands, less than a year after the company first bought the closed conference centre.

Last May an application to demolish the 74-bed Woodside was thrown out by district planners on biodiversity grounds.

The site was subsequently sold to Vistry who are currently building 620 houses around the hotel.

If approved, the fresh application would see the Woodside knocked down to be replaced with 43 houses and a block of 12 apartments.

"The application aims to provide a scheme that is well integrated and harmonises with the neighbouring context, landscape and the local area, generally in terms of density, scale, layout, access, and appearance. without detracting from the historic and natural charm of the town," the application said.

It added: "The development has been designed with careful consideration for accessibility, parking, sustainability with the aim of creating a vibrant and inclusive community. 

"The proposed design reflects the unique character and vernacular of the local area while incorporating modern amenities and technologies, and aims to contribute positively to the social and economic development of the surrounding area."

The layout for the proposed new estate (image via planning application)

The Woodside has been closed since early 2021 after the then owners, The Sundial Group, went into administration.

The building was then bought by Archel Homes for £5 million before being sold again to Vistry.

According to the latest planning application, the hotel has been stripped and vandalised during that period, leaving it "in a poor state of repair".

"Therefore, the hotel is now at a point where it would be uneconomical to make the required refurbishments to reopen as a hotel," the application said.

Plans show a mixture of one, two, three and four bedroom homes would be built, with the design for the apartment block using features from the hotel.

An area of public open space would be retained at the centre of the estate, including a number of endangered trees currently on the site.

A separate application solely for the demolition of the hotel says it has addressed the issues that saw the previous scheme refused.

Although not a listed building, the Woodside Hotel is on the district council's heritage assets list.

The building spent much of the 20th century as a training centre for Coventry-based textile manufacturer Courtaulds before being sold to the Chudley family in 1997 and turned into a hotel.

Comment on the full application here and the second application here.

Like this article? Why not subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here.