Resort talks on 'quality' hotel project for conference venue

Bridlington could host party political conferences under plans to build a large "quality" hotel to accompany the redeveloped Spa

East Riding Council said it now had the finest conference venue on the East Coast following the 20m refurbishment of the Spa, but its ability to attract major delegations was being hampered by the size of hotels currently available in the resort.

The council hopes a suitable location is identified within the Bridlington Area Action Plan, which is out to public consultation until January 10, and would like to a see a development that would make the town a viable option as a spring conference destination, when the main political parties hold smaller gatherings than during the autumn conference season.

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The council has already held talks with operators and developers interested in helping to deliver such a facility.

Council head of planning and economic regeneration Alan Menzies said: "We've been approached by three or four hotel operators or hotel developers over the last eight or nine months who are interested in talking about the potential for investment in Bridlington, and that's very positive, particularly in the current economic climate.

"Since we have refurbished the Spa we have, I think, the best East Coast conference venue and one of the issues we have got to address is having more good quality hotel accommodation.

"Political conferences tend to want all the organising committee under one roof and the biggest we have at the moment is the 48 beds at the Expanse.

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"What we are looking for will hopefully have 60, 80, to 100 rooms, a good quality, full-service hotel, hopefully in close proximity to the conference venue.

"The challenge is the site. We are trying to find a site where we've got enough space to build something of the quality we are looking for.

"The Area Action Plan will hopefully provide land that will allow us to do that."

He added: "It's not to the detriment of any hotel operators there at the moment because there's plenty of business."

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The Spa has already held a trade union conference and variety of other events, ranging from the BDO British Open Darts tournament and the Yorkshire International Business Convention, to classical concerts and performances from leading rock acts including Oasis, the Prodigy, and Placebo.

A report to the council's Greater Prosperity Overview and Scrutiny Committee said the Spa had enjoyed "significant success" since being relaunched in June 2008.

It has helped raise aspirations in the town and is credited with helping to attract other investment, such as for the Spa Gardens project, which drew 3m from the Government programme Sea Change – in the face of fierce opposition from other coastal towns – and 2.85m from Yorkshire Forward's Urban Programme.

One of the council's other key objectives in utilising the Spa as an economic driver for the town is to make it self-sufficient as it is currently subsidised by the authority.

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It aims to achieve this within the first 10 years of the revamp and appears to be on course to achieve it.

The net cost of running the venue in 2009-10, its first full year of operation since the relaunch in June 2008, was 413,934.

The target for the current financial year is a net cost of 260,000, and the report said the signs are "promising". The Spa has already doubled its income from the 1.2m generated in 2004.

Council head of culture and information Darren Stevens said economic objectives for the Spa would, however, be balanced against what was right for the town as a whole.

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He said: "What we are trying to do is reduce the net cost to zero, but we are also making sure the Spa is making the biggest possible contribution to the economic vitality of the town of Bridlington."

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