Owners of the century-old Knoll House hotel in Studland are challenging the decision by Dorset Council to refuse planning permission for a controversial £65 million redevelopment of the site.
The planning appeal in front of a government inspector will start on Wednesday 11th December 2024 at Westport House in Wareham, and is scheduled to last five days with the decision expected by March 2025.
Knoll House, dating from Edwardian times, opened as a hotel in 1931
An upmarket jewel for Purbeck
Defiant company owner Nigel Chapman of Kingfisher Resorts, officially challenged Dorset Council’s decision at the end of summer 2024, and the government’s planning inspectorate says that the average time to resolve a public inquiry is 31 weeks from that point, around the end of March 2025.
Kingfisher Resorts wants to provide 30 hotel rooms, 18 apartments and 26 villas, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a spa centre, jacuzzi, fitness studio, steam room, sauna and restaurant.
Its plans for an upmarket jewel for Purbeck would increase staff from 66 to 152, put £5 million into the economy during construction, add an extra £2.9 million in wages for Purbeck and create an estimated £2.3 million spend outside the hotel by visitors every year, generating another 59 jobs.
But Dorset Council rejected the scheme – the second major plan to modernise the hotel in three years – saying that the undoubted economic benefits to Purbeck were not enough to permit such a large development in such an environmentally sensitive area, despite it replacing an existing building.
Although there was overwhelming support from councillors at the planning meeting for the idea for a luxury rebuild of the ageing hotel, it was decided that the planning application needed more work.
An aerial view of Knoll House Hotel, showing the landscape which Natural England is concerned about
Five day hearing to discuss concerns
After objections from Natural England, the Dorset AONB partnership and the Dorset Council natural environment team, planning officers recommended refusal on grounds of the detriment to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Heritage Coast and protected heathlands.
Planners were also concerned about surface water drainage, the lack of a biodiversity plan and no guarantee that protected trees would not be damaged by the development.
There were also concerns that the villas and apartments had been submitted as C3 residential buildings rather than C1 commercial hotel property and that in the future they may be sold off to private individuals.
The five day inquiry, which concludes on Thursday 19th December 2024, will discuss several issues, including the landscape visual and character effects of the hotel and its design in the context of Studland.
Documents submitted by Black Box Planning on behalf of Nigel Chapman said he will explain why the work needs to be done and explain its answers to all concerns from the initial rejection.
Plans would give Knoll House Hotel indoor and outdoor swimming pools to be proud of
“It is in a very poor condition”
A spokesperson for Black Box Planning said:
“The regeneration of the hotel will deliver a high quality tourism facility. It will support a more environmentally sustainable and viable business moving forward but necessarily requires wholesale change and substantial economic investment.
“It will be demonstrated that the resort will operate as a single entity, but to deliver the proposed services and facilities for guests requires a critical mass of accommodation. This relationship is central to the business model of delivering a five star resort.
“The hotel site was constructed in the early 1900s and subsequently became a hotel in 1931. Today, there are approximately 30 buildings scattered across the site and many are in poor condition.
“Whilst the Knoll House of old has invoked happy memories for many, it is in a very poor condition and has a negative impact on the surrounding landscape.”
Studland’s nearby beaches are a big draw for hotel guests
“Purbeck and Dorset deserve better”
The spokesperson added:
“Unlike the existing hotel, the appeal proposal does not include any staff accommodation. It will be staffed locally, offering more consistent permanent contracts, removing the need for onsite staff accommodation.
“A green travel plan is proposed to include a staff bus serving a regular timetable from local pick-up hubs, including Swanage and Corfe Castle, and parking at the hotel will reduce from 86 spaces currently to 75.
“As the stewards of this beautiful site, we wish only to improve and enhance the current provisions of the hotel to enable Knoll House Hotel to thrive.
“Without significant investment, the hotel will continue to deteriorate into disrepair, and we believe that Purbeck and Dorset overall deserve better.”
Nigel Chapman of Kingfisher Hotels shows off the current resort plan at its launch in October 2022
“Short term pain, long term gain”
Under the plans, all of the existing buildings on the site would be demolished, with only the central façade of the original hotel building being retained.
Measures proposed to meet planners’ concerns included reclassifying all accommodation as C1 commercial hotel rooms, using shutters and screens to stop the hotel emitting light at night, and dropping plans to welcome dogs after concerns about ground nesting birds on the heathlands.
Chair of Studland parish council Nick Boulter said:
“This has been dragging on a long time now. As a parish council, we are supporting the current application, although we are still concerned that the new villas and apartments should be designated as C1 commercial hotel property rather than C3 residential buildings which could be sold off to private individuals.
“But as long as that is resolved, we are very much in favour of the new development and hope that a decision gets made soon in favour of the hotel. It will be a big improvement.
“It will be good for jobs in the area. We are aware that it will take a year or two of disruption to build, but it will be short term pain for long term gain.”
Original redevelopment plans were rejected as ‘too urban’ in February 2022 and were redrawn at much expense
Financial benefits for Studland
Councillor Ben Wilson, representing South East Purbeck on Dorset Council, which includes Studland, said:
“Like residents of Studland and the parish council, I support the redevelopment of the hotel site but appreciate that there are various planning and conservation considerations on which the inquiry is largely based.
“In principle, I see a new hotel as an opportunity to bring financial benefits to Studland and Purbeck, and for that reason I would like to see that site flourish and see Studland get the benefits of it.
“We just need to get through the planning considerations.”
In celebration of Enid Blyton, part of a display at the Knoll House Hotel where she stayed in Room 40 on many occasions
Favourite of Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl
Knoll House was built as a summer residence for the aristocratic Bankes family in the early 1900s, before being turned into a six-bedroom hotel by Chris and Poppy Smith in 1931.
It shut during World War Two and was used by troops preparing for the D-Day landings, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill staying there on occasions.
The hotel is set in four acres of woodland, with direct access to a three-mile stretch of beach and includes a nine-hole pitch and putt golf course and tennis courts.
Knoll House Hotel was a favourite of Enid Blyton, who wrote the Famous Five novels, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory author Roald Dahl, Monty Python member Michael Palin and more recently comedian Jack Dee.
Further information
- Explore Knoll House Hotel
