A HUGE 250-bedroom hotel complex could be built on Green Belt land in St Albans, if a planning application gets approval.
The massive development would feature a 750-seat conference centre, banqueting facilities, lakes, tennis courts, a full-size football pitch, a leisure spa and separate 68-roomed staff accommodation.
AB Hotels Limited, a consortium of local businesses led by Sopwell House Hotel managing director Abraham Berjerano, plans to build the hotel on agricultural land at the junction between North Orbital Road and the M25, just north of Bricket Wood.
The plans are an initiative of the St Albans into the 21st Century scheme, supported by director St Albans MP Kerry Pollard.
The MP, who has been calling for conference centre facilities in the district for more than a year, welcomed the proposal.
A joint statement from the project's directors said: "[We] believe that it is vital to support the retail sector in these challenging times and to encourage projects that will boost the local economy."
City centre manager Melvin Teare also declared his support for the plan.
He said: "It will certainly be good for business visitors and we do need a conference centre locally. Our community is ideal because it links with the M25, the railway and so many airports."
Mr Teare does not object to constructing the complex on Green Belt land.
"If you look across the road from the site there is a plot of land which is also Green Belt and was supposed to be a golf course but now filled with dumped waste what would you prefer?"
The application is scheduled to be considered at a district council planning meeting in January or February next year.
Head of planning and engineering at the district council Dean Goodman said issues needed to be considered, such as the suitability of the site, the need for a hotel in the district and whether this need would over-ride objections to building on Green Belt land.
He admitted the contentious nature of the scheme means it may go to public enquiry.
Councillor Chris Whiteside said: "We do need more hotels in the district, so it's not going to be chucked out without any consideration. But the Green Belt issue is obviously a big one."
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