A popular four-star hotel's plans to build a new outdoor garden spa have been approved by Cheshire East Council.

Applicants Andrew and Justine Middleton submitted plans for a garden spa development including a pool area at the Manor House Hotel, Alsager, which would extend off the existing buildings on the Audley Road site.

The new building would be linked to the existing hotel via a rear entrance door.

Following on from planning officer and landscape officer comments, the proposed outdoor garden and pool area had been revised to be closer to the existing buildings and the scheme was altered so that the development was contained within the Alsager settlement zone line.

The application was originally 'called in' to be heard at a Cheshire East Council planning committee by ward councillor Phil Williams for the following reason:

'The scale of the proposed development and its proximity to the green belt warrants consideration by committee. Due consideration should be given to the significant reduction in car parking spaces; ecological assessment such as the potential effect of lighting and other intrusion on land currently closed by protected species; any potential noise pollution that may affect the closest residents and potential overdevelopment of the site.'

However, since the application was amended and the development was now contained within the settlement boundary and given the local support, Cllr Williams withdrew the request for the application to be heard at committee.

There were 19 letters of support received for the application with only two objections submitted, which cited concerns relating to the impact on parking and highway safety as well as the impact on countryside and green belt land.

The existing site consists of a hotel with 58 bedrooms, a restaurant, function suites and an indoor pool, and approximately 150 car parking spaces. The accesses are off Audley Road, which would continue and the proposal for spa facilities would result in a reduction in the parking provision to 104 spaces.

Part of the application is in the green belt, but the works proposed to the land within the green belt would be limited to re-planting which does not require planning permission and would be subject to a planning condition.

The extension to the hotel building has been designed to be a single storey attachment with a maximum height of 6m, large glass elements and a projecting gable.

The garden spa development includes the installation of the following; a garden pavilion, panoramic sauna, garden steam room and herbal steam room/sauna. All structures would be single storey ranging from 3.7m to 4.3m in height at their maximum. The other external features include a vitality pool and areas of hardstanding.

To assess the impact of the reduction of car parking provision, parking surveys were carried out on Saturday 23 November, Tuesday 26 November and Wednesday 27 November, which represented busy days for the hotel.

On the Saturday there were 150 guests attending a function, 50 of the hotel rooms were booked, and there were over 100 restaurant bookings.

During the Tuesday and Wednesday the hotel was fully booked, hosted a function with approximately 40 guests, and had a significant number of restaurant bookings.

During the course of the day, from 6am to 7pm, the highest car park occupancy on the Saturday was 76 spaces, Tuesday 65 spaces and Wednesday 60 spaces.

A Cheshire East Council planning officer's report stated: "It is expected that the proposed spa will accommodate up to 30 guests with the majority of them being half day guests, and require a maximum of six staff at any given time.

"The projected additional parking demand from the applicant appears low but nevertheless assuming two guests per car will take total demand to approximately 90, resulting in approximately 10% spare capacity.

"Given how busy the hotel, function room, and restaurant were on the survey days and the spare capacity there will be, the reduction in parking provision is considered acceptable."

In addition to the car parking, two car drop-off spaces, three motorcycle spaces and 14 cycle spaces were also proposed.

The application was approved by Cheshire East Council planning officer's on Monday (28 September) through delegated powers.