PLANS for a new Travelodge hotel to be built in the centre of Newton Abbot have been approved.

The new hotel is the second phase of Teignbridge Council’s masterplan for the centre of Newton Abbot, with a 25-year lease having provisionally been agreed with Travelodge.

The plans were submitted by the district council after being recommended for approval in June this year.

The Halcyon Road car park will be converted into a 72-bedroom hotel with a restaurant. Concerns have been raised about the loss of parking spaces for visitors to the town centre.

There will be 31 car parking spaces located on the site for guests of the hotel, and further allocated spaces in the multi-story next to the site.

Overall, 64 spaces which will be taken out of public use in the existing car park, but a planning officers’ report stated that the lost spaces would eventually be re-provided in the Cattle Market Car Park.

The proposals will require alterations to the Sherborne Road access to allow for in and out traffic, which will include the removal of the part of the low stone wall and it’s realignment to provide suitable space and visibility, as well as removal and relocation of a lamppost and zebra crossing

The Travelodge hotel in Newton Abbot will be progressed on a self-develop basis, meaning that Teignbridge Council will construct the hotels to a specification agreed, but with a least a 25 year lease to Travelodge.