Councillors throw out £6m Rotherham Premier Inn plan

COUNCILLORS have rejected plans for a new Premier Inn and restaurant outside the town centre despite claims it could have brought £6 million into Rotherham.

The application for a site off Sheffield Road at Templeborough was voted against by 12 councillors to one at today’s planning meeting.

Councillors refused the 80-bed hotel proposals from Whitbread stating that there were “preferable sites” on the edge of Rotherham town centre which were suitable and available for development, including the Millers’ New York Stadium car park site and the former Liquid nightclub site on the edge of the town centre.

Whitbread told councillors that the hotel could host more than 8,000 visitors per year, with an annual turnover of £1.4 million for the hotel and restaurant combined.

They claimed that the money generated could support between 14 and 25 full time jobs, on top of the 60 employed directly by the hotel and restaurant.

They stated that the proposal would represent an investment of £6 million in Rotherham.

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