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Introduction

Aston Marina prides itself on continual growth as one of Staffordshire’s destination sites for weddings, events, business, leisure and tourism. The multi award-winning business promotes local suppliers, charity fundraising and over 90% of its 100+ employees residing within a 10-mile radius of the site. Community support and involvement is high on our list of priorities and therefore an essential part of the planning process of the project.

This public consultation has the primary objective of involving the local community with the planning of this project, enabling us to deliver an offering that sympathetically works in partnership with the local area, promoting economic growth and bolstering Stone & Staffordshire as a visitor destination for leisure, tourism and business.

Why is this development needed

Stone has a multitude of local attractions on the doorstep such as Alton Towers, the Monkey Forest, Trentham Gardens and Cannock Chase. In addition, local business parks are currently experiencing exponential growth bringing increased need for quality accommodation to the area with a limited selection of hotels able to meet the required demand. As Aston Marina is positioned minutes away from the M6 and other key transport links, it is perfectly placed to support the growth Stone is witnessing.

In the increasingly competitive market of hospitality, weddings and conferences it is important for the business to be able to offer high quality accommodation to remain competitive and appealing to future clients.

As a multi award winning establishment it is important for us to continue to evolve with the demands of the industry.

What is proposed

The proposed solution to continue to grow the business and enhance the local economy is to build, manage and operate a new 35 bedroom hotel on site, linking the venue and restaurant with premium, convenient accommodation on ground that part of the existing developed site. The local area has a growing demand for this facility.

The most suitable solution will be sympathetic to the ecology and environmental needs of the site, provide significant scope for business growth and enable Aston Marina to contribute to the local economy in terms of employment, tourism and supplier opportunities.

Feedback from Stafford Borough Council planning department was positive for the pre-application submission and all of their suggestions have been taken into account. An example of this in the design is utilising the roof space in order to achieve a build height of one and a half stories instead of two stories to ensure the building is in scale with the existing restaurant building and the same height.

Location & proposed design

The most effective design to offer effective accommodation at Aston Marina is with the design that has been proposed for the planning application, increasing the infrastructure on the site on ground that has already been developed.

In order to meet the requirements of the essential but individual customer demographics, we propose the hotel to be consisting of 35 rooms, comprising of a mixture of premium wedding suites, comfortable business rooms, accessible rooms and family friendly accommodation over two floors.

The development will also contain, a lobby/reception, lounge with roof terrace, smaller meeting spaces and storage rooms.

Environmental impact assessment

Constructing the hotel within the current building line and adjoining the events venue to the main building will not only minimise the visual impact on the landscape but also limit the disruption made to the surrounding undeveloped land which make up the majority of Aston Marina’s 42 acre estate.

One of the defining assets of the site is the open, rolling landscape and marina scenes. By constructing the hotel accommodation to sit sympathetically between the two existing buildings we will be able to maintain the level of aesthetics that draw people to the site whilst simultaneously being able to offer quality, premium accommodation.

In addition to the direct aesthetic and biodiverse benefits of remaining within the current building line, we intend on integrating multiple low-carbon and renewable energy technologies into the design of the building, including photovoltaic solar, ground / air source heat pumps, SMART control technologies, passive heating & cooling and LED lighting throughout, potentially enabling the building and EPC rating of 92+ (A).

Community

The construction and operation of the hotel will have a positive ripple effect on the local community. Beyond the immediate economic benefits derived from increased tourism and patronage of local businesses by visitors staying longer and exploring further guaranteeing secondary sales throughout the county. Aston Marina is committed to sourcing locally, thereby supporting regional vendors and contributing to the growth of the local economy.

The hotel will generate up to 25 new job opportunities across various sectors, including hospitality, housekeeping, catering, and event management. Over 90% of our 100 employees live within a 10 mile radius of the site. We take immense pride in our role as a catalyst for local employment, contributing to a thriving community and fostering a sense of pride among residents.

Aston Marina’s charitable contributions will be able to continue to grow. The business currently supports a number of local charities and causes including Katharine House Hospice, Douglas MacMillan, A Child of Mine, Stone Food & Drink Festival, The Peter Pan Foundation, as well as many local schools and colleges. In 2023, the business donated over £5000 to these worthy causes and we endeavour to increase our donations each year.

This brochure forms part of our pre-submission consultation efforts in which we are asking for your opinion on this proposed hotel. Further consultation on the final scheme will be undertaken by the Local Planning Authority when the final application is registered with them.

Please take your time to consider the information within this brochure and should you have further questions or matters you may want to clarify, please simply contact a member of our team who will be happy to help. We would be grateful if you could complete the feedback form which will be used for the purpose of providing feedback to the project design team and planning authority.

We agree and support with the guidance issued by the UK Government’s Chief Planner, which emphasised that planning applications that positively impact the country & local communities must continue to come forward. In addition, we believe that it is vital that local communities are able to see and shape planning applications that may have an impact. We therefore invite you to attend our public consultation event on Tuesday 12th March 2024, between 4pm – 7pm.

During the event you will have the chance view our plans, learn more about our proposal and talk to the project team. We’re holding our public consultation event at The Boat House, Aston Marina, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 8QU.