Historic England has objected to the latest planning application for the Royal Hotel site - saying its future will not be secured and it has 'serious, fundamental concerns'.

It says that there may not be sufficient finances to restore the hotel and make it viable - as the new development would mean it is restricted as to how far it can be developed.

Historic England - the public body that looks after England's historic environment - has now called for 'independent professional advice as to the validity of the financial information submitted by the applicant'.

But it says it understands North West Leicestershire District Council plans to commission this.

A revised plan was submitted to the District Council by Simon Dawson, of the Royal's owners Oakland Hotels, in September which involved the building of 17 town houses around the hotel, which has fallen into disrepair since being closing in 2018.

Historic England is concerned the Royal is outside the red line of the development plans

That followed a scheme for a 30-apartment terrace, an office building, cafe kiosk and 69 bed care home which was withdrawn.

A detailed planning report with the latest application says the development is aimed at re-opening the Royal for use as a hotel.

But Historic England's assessment, delivered to the district council last month, casts doubt on this.

It says: "Historic England is keen for the future of the hotel to be secured through its repair and a viable use. 

"Conversely, the proposed development will not deliver the benefit of securing the future of the Royal Hotel. 

"On that basis we object to the application."

The proposed townhouses would look like this

The report goes on to say it is concerned that the new houses will take away the Royal's prominence and importance to the town as a Grade II* listed building.

It adds: "The proposed development will cause a high level of harm (less than substantial) to the significance that the Royal Hotel derives from its setting. 

"There will also be less than substantial harm to the Ashby Conservation Area and the significance that Rawdon Terrace and Ashby Castle derive from their setting."

Historic England goes on to describe its view of the application as an 'enabling development - one that would not not normally be given planning permission, except for the fact that it would secure the future conservation of a heritage asset.

The report continues: "We have serious, fundamental concerns regarding the soundness of this application constituting enabling development and the guarantee that it would secure the repair of the Royal Hotel. 

The Royal Hotel at present - and the site of the planned development

"It is a fundamental position of enabling development that the development proposed should secure the repair and reuse of the heritage asset it is to benefit. 

"In this case it is a serious concern that the redline of the development proposals does not include the Royal Hotel. 

"Any proposed development must include the heritage asset it is designed to benefit and should be strictly legally secured to ensure that the development cannot take place without the full repair and reuse of the heritage asset taking place - usually before work on the enabling development starts. 

"b) Market Testing: 'Decision-makers will usually require market testing to explore the possibility of different owners or different uses providing an alternative to enabling development, thereby reducing the scale of enabling.

"In this case, recent marketing of the site at a price reflecting the Royal's condition has not taken place. 

"If the development is approved there would be no remaining space left for any development required to support future uses of the Royal as a hotel or otherwise, meaning that there must be certainty that the proposed hotel use is viable within the Royal as is. 

"c) Outdated information: The cost of the repairs on the hotel have index linked repairs to 2021. 

The hotel has been closed since 2018

"The cost of construction and materials have increased quite dramatically recently.

"These should be updated to fully understand the conservation deficit. In addition to this the Avison and Young Feasibility Study dates back from 2019. 

"d) Independent Assessment of the Figures" As with the previous withdrawn application an independent assessment of the case for enabling development should be commissioned by your authority to provide professional advice as to the validity of the financial information submitted by the applicant. We understand you intend to commission this. 

"As we have not been consulted on any such document yet we are unable to provide comment on the submitted figures. Consequently, the ability of the proposed scheme to succeed in securing the comprehensive repair and viable reuse of the Grade II* listed Royal Hotel is not established."

Historic England is also unhappy with the design of the townhouses as they would block views of the Bath Grounds from Station Road as well as making the Royal Hotel a lesser building in the middle of the development.

Its report adds: "The proposals are large in scale and massing and would detract from the hotel's dominance notably both from Station Road and within the Bath Grounds. 

"The proximity of the proposals to the hotel would compound this effect. 

"It would therefore compete with the hotel as the most prominent architectural feature of the townscape. 

"The space between the hotel and Rawdon Terrace is an important part of the setting to both the hotel and Rawdon Terrace. This allows views through to the Bath Grounds and the historic site of the Ivanhoe Baths. 

"The proposed terrace fronting Station Road would sit between this important group and block views through to Bath Grounds. 

"Views through would be further hampered by the height of the rear terrace proposed on the site of Ivanhoe Baths.

"The architectural design has sought to complement the classical style of the hotel and terrace, however, this has not been successful and instead the new buildings would jar with the hotel and erode its design quality. 

"The proposals would therefore fail to be subservient to the listed buildings. The nature of residential use and the associated residential curtilages will dramatically change the character of the Bath Grounds and immediate setting of the hotel. 

"We also have concerns that this proposed use could impact on the viability of the hotel going forward with residential use in such close proximity. 

"Overall, we believe the proposals would result in a high level of less than substantial harm the Royal Hotel's significance.

"Your council must consider this collective harm when assessing the application."