Plans to demolish a Kenilworth town centre hotel and replace it with four houses and five apartments have been submitted to Warwick District Council.

The application is the latest in a series of schemes put forward to redevelop the Peacock Hotel on Warwick Road.

Planning permission was granted in 2019 to turn the 32-bed venue into student accommodation, but the development was delayed due to the pandemic.

A second student accommodation plan was withdrawn last year, before a proposal to turn the hotel into 14 apartments and three family homes was put forward and then pulled out again.

This latest proposal said the previous application was withdrawn "as a high quality residential development was ultimately favoured by the applicant".

The new design and access statement put to the council says: "The Peacock Hotel has been operating for a number of years under the current management and ownership team.

"They have found a steady drop in demand over the years (pre pandemic) due to larger chains offering an easier way of booking online, with their significant IT and marketing budgets.

An artist's impression of the front of the development (image via planning application)

"Post pandemic, they have not seen any significant change in this state and decisions have been made about a viable future for the site.

"As a result, research into the options and previous applications have concluded more than ever that it is now more sustainable to develop the site for residential purposes."

If approved the scheme will see the hotel and no. 151 demolished and replaced with two three-bedroom detached homes and a pair of semi-detached three-bedroom homes, all built fronting onto Warwick Road.

To the rear, the hotel's outbuildings would be demolished and replaced with five two-bedroom apartments and parking spaces.

The applications added: "Our light touch approach to this proposal takes on board Inspector, officer and neighbourhood feedback during the sites recent application history which we trust will be now received favourably."

It also said the new design "creates an appropriate scale, mass and integration into the existing context as it is a light touch approach and still provides the applicant with a viable future for this site, by creating a high quality environment with all the convenience of a town centre location".

See the full application here.