Upgrade to Hertfordshire manor house given special permission

Shendish Manor has been given permission to build new facilities on green belt land due to '˜special circumstances'.
Artist's impression of new facilities at Shendish ManorArtist's impression of new facilities at Shendish Manor
Artist's impression of new facilities at Shendish Manor

The Grade II listed building is currently a hotel offering 70 rooms, but wanted to build 30 new rooms, eight rooms for staff and a host of other leisure and spa facilities on green belt land within the grounds.

Such applications are only granted if there are mitigating circumstances, and the venue has succesfully convinced councillors that they meet the criteria.

The hotel says it has suffered a financial loss this year due to the lack of rooms.

And the meeting of the council’s development management committee heard on Thursday evening (June 15) that the hotel had turned away £1.75million-worth of business in 2015 alone as they didn’t have more room.

Speaking at the meeting James Doe, assistant director for planning, development and regeneration at Dacorum Borough Council, said: “This application is the result of a quite a few years of work.

“I’m delighted to give this my recommendation, it’s a very well thought out proposal.”

And councillors considered that the economic and job benefits from building the standalone building outweighed any harm to green belt land.

Shendish Manor were unavailable for comment.