Homes plan for fire-hit hotel turned down

Plans to demolish a fire-hit hotel and redevelop the site have been refused.

The mock-Tudor Crosby Hotel, in Scunthorpe, has been closed since 2008 and was damaged by fire in February.

Last summer, police issued a warning over the safety of the building, which had been visited by urban explorers and children.

An application for 10 homes on the site was turned down by North Lincolnshire Council due to the lack of a formal agreement to secure their long-term affordable status.

A decision notice also pointed out that a financial contribution to a local park had been requested to mitigate the lack of open space on the development, but this had not been formally agreed.

MerryVale Developments submitted plans for eight two-bedroom and two three-bedroom affordable homes in 2021.

Because the site, off Normanby Road, is brownfield land, there was a presumption in favour of development, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The need for affordable homes in Scunthorpe would also mitigate the loss of the hotel, which was built in 1910 and is a non-designated heritage asset, a report to the council said.

In a statement last August, Humberside Police said it had received reports of children visiting the hotel and described it as "extremely unsafe to enter".

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