COUNCILLORS have decided that, in the case of one South Hams hotel in need of modernisation, economic benefits outweigh impacts on the landscape and neighbours.

On Wednesday, South Hams Council's development management committee approved a major expansion of the Cottage Hotel in Hope Cove that will see the number of rooms increase from 32 to 56.

William Ireland, whose family has run the hotel since 1973, said it was 'in his blood' to be an hotelier, but without expansion the Cottage would close within 10 years.

Councillors, in approving the plans by eight votes to three with one abstention, went against the advice of planning officers, who recommended refusal based on the 'unacceptable' impact on the landscape of the much-enlarged hotel and the effect on a neighbouring property, West View.

Case officer Malc-olm Elliott – the council's development manager – said councillors had to make a judgment call on the balance between 'considerable' impact on the landscape, and the wider benefits of the development.

Objector Jo Holt told the committee that, while the hotel did need modernising, the 'veiled threat' of closure' did not mean it should take precedence over protecting the AONB.

But ward members for Salcombe and Malborough, Cllrs Paul Coulson and Judy Pearce disgreed. Cllr Coulson said the Cottage benefited both the South Hams, as hotels are 'vital to the economy and health of the area' and Hope Cove itself, as a community hub.

Cllr Pearce said she was 'torn'; she felt the plans did not enhance the environment, and would have a 'devastating' impact on neighbours but joined the 'huge groundswell of opinion' in the local area that the hotel needed to be updated.