The Lifehouse Spa and Hotel in Essex has had expansion plans turned down by local planners.
Lifehouse owners, Castle Hotel Management Company (CHMC), had submitted for permissiuon to fulfil ambitious expansion plans, aimed at adding residential and commercial real estate to the property, which sits on an large site in the village of Thorpe le Soken.
The planning application proposed a £3m investment in the spa and hotel, alongside the development of 50 holiday apartments, 200 new homes, 92 assisted living properties and business units.
Submitted last autumn, CHMC argued in the plans that the proposed project would create around 200 jobs and improve local infrastructure, while ‘sustaining and supporting Lifehouse in the long-term’.
However, the plans caused anger from local residents, who feared the loss of their village's character, and the local council recently denied planning permission.
In response to the council's decision, Co-owners of the Lifehouse Spa, Peter Murphy and Donald Emslie, who have run the business over the last four years, said the board is reviewing the decision and ‘considering all possible options’.
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