A NOTICE has been served by Snowdonia National Park Authority on the owners of a derelict hotel in Harlech to demolish their property and clear the site after being inundated with complaints from residents about the poor condition of the building.

The authority issued the notice to the owners of St David’s Hotel, Aitchison Associaties Limited, on 2 December this year.

The hotel was originally built in 1910 and re-built in 1922 following a large fire.

For decades, the hotel welcomed hundreds of golfers and other visitors to enjoy the amenities there. However, in 2008, the hotel closed its doors for the last time and since then it has remained empty, resulting in its condition deteriorating rapidly.

In 2009, the authority granted a conditional planning permission for the demolition of the hotel and college hall of residence and for the construction of a new 130 bedroom hotel and 76 holiday apartments, together with forming a new internal road layout, landscaping and associated engineering works.

Unfortunately despite this planning permission, the developer has not proceeded with the project.

In 2014 a further planning application was submitted. The application was approved and despite the authority receiving assurances from the developer that work would commence on the new development, nothing of any significance has occurred except for the partial construction of a bat building.

Jane Jones, the authority’s principal planning officer, said: “With the hotel building in such a poor state of disrepair, repair work is no longer feasible: windows rotting, dormer windows completely perished, sections of the roof have collapsed and other numerous structural defects.

Internally the building has been gutted.

“The authority has been inundated with complaints from local residents and visitors to Harlech about the poor condition of the hotel building and how its unsightly appearance seriously detracts from the surrounding vicinity and prevents the economic development of Harlech.

The hotel is in a prominent position within Harlech, being in an elevated position and located adjacent to the A496 highway.

Furthermore it is situated adjacent to the Harlech Conservation Area and in close proximity to Harlech Castle and a designated World Heritage Site.

“Although the authority has tried diligently to negotiate a satisfactory outcome with the developer/owner of the land, Aitchison Associates Limited, these negotiations have failed.

The fact that the company is based in Gibraltar has also slowed the process. It has been a challenging and difficult procedure, but we are very eager to progress this under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and initiate formal action by serving this Enforcement Notice.”

“If no appeal is made to the Magistrates Court against the service of the Notice, it will take effect on the 18 January 2016.

Due to our statutory responsibilities to protect bats, it will not be possible to carry out any work between the months of April to September and therefore a period of 15 months has been given to comply with the notice.”