Alternative sites to be considered for hotel in Shrewsbury's Riverside development
Shropshire Council says alternative sites will be considered for the location of a hotel as part of its redevelopment of Shrewsbury's Riverside.
The authority's cabinet is set to discuss authorising the submission of a planning application for demolition work on the site at its cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The ultimate ambition behind the project is to transform the Riverside and Smithfield area into a "destination" for leisure, retail and work.
The cabinet paper outlines how the council intends to proceed, and reveals that a site originally earmarked for a hotel will now become a public park instead.
The authority says that three alternative plots will be considered as locations for a hotel – with an environmental impact assessment to be carried out to determine the best site.
The report, prepared by the council's executive director of place, Mark Barrow, says: "A linear public park replaces the hotel proposed on Plot 4. This is a key place-making move enhancing connectivity between the Riverside and Pride Hill in the form of a new green public space.
"The park captures opportunity for solar performance, provides a pillar of the flood strategy and addresses phasing constraints and opportunities, whilst mitigating the change of level and lack of grade level active frontage born of the flooding constraints.
