Planning authorities have rejected the nine-storey redevelopment of Broadmeadow's landmark Premier Hotel, saying it is too tall and out of character with the neighbourhood.
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Sydney-based Thomas Hotels group wanted to demolish the Premier and replace it with a 30-metre building with 48 apartments, a new-look ground-floor pub, 16 hotel rooms, two levels of underground parking and a roof-top rotunda.
The planned $34 million building was almost three times taller than the 11-metre height limit for the site and 45 per cent above the permitted floor space ratio.
The Premier is on a prominent corner at the Nineways intersection at Broadmeadow.
The proposal attracted 11 submissions which included concerns about its scale, character, noise, shadowing and parking impacts.
The Hunter Central Coast Regional Planning Panel agreed with all of these concerns after Newcastle council also had recommended the project be refused.
"The proposed development does not respond to its current context and is out of scale with surrounding development," the panel concluded.
The panel also said the development application was "premature" given the site will be included in a "strategic planning program" for the identified Broadmeadow Regionally Significant Growth Area.
"Significant variations to an adopted policy framework on a piecemeal basis undermines both existing controls and predetermines a structured strategic planning exercise which seeks to plan for change.
"It prevents proper community involvement."
Thomas Hotels group, which owns 20 pubs in NSW, took over the Premier in 2018 and two years later bought a neighbouring commercial property which formed part of the development application.
The 1891 hotel was rebuilt in the art deco style in the 1930s and was substantially repaired after the 1989 earthquake.
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
