Gainsborough could be getting a Travelodge and Italian restaurant at former hotel site

Dransfield Properties and West Lindsey District Council are working on proposals to transform the Market Street, Market Place, Church Street and North Street area of the town centre which include a 56 room Travelodge hotel on the site of the former Sun Inn.

An open public consultation will take place from 3pm to 7pm on Tuesday, January 24, at the Engine House at Marshall’s Yard.

Members of the public and local businesses will be given the opportunity to view the plans and speak to the team working on the town centre transformation.

Dransfield Properties, who also delivered the award winning Marshall’s Yard in Gainsborough, are bringing forward the development in partnership with WLDC.

The first phase will be to deliver the new Travelodge and a Ponti’s Italian Kitchen restaurant, the wider regeneration scheme will also include a joint venture partnership with West Lindsey District Council to refurbish town centre shops with new traditional shop fronts, creating an Independent Quarter in the town, improvements to the Roseway Car Park creating additional town centre car parking and an attractive and welcoming arrival point for visitors and an alfresco dining area and stunning water wall feature inspired by Paley Park in New York.

If the redevelopment plans are approved work will start later in the year and the first phase will deliver the new hotel and restaurant.

The hotel and restaurant will support local businesses and create a huge boost for the town centre economy, particularly to the early evening trade.

it’s estimated that the new hotel development will deliver around 25 new jobs in the town with a further 20 being created at the restaurant.

A recent £100m modernisation programme has just seen Travelodge upgrade more than 30,000 rooms across its estate with a new contemporary look and feel which will be reflected in the new Gainsborough hotel.

The Ponti’s Italian Kitchen restaurant will be on the ground floor with entrances from Market Street and the Roseway Car Park.

The family owned company has restaurants in London and at Fox Valley in north Sheffield and the new Gainsborough restaurant will be the team’s first venture in Lincolnshire and the East Midlands.

The plans for the redevelopment of the run down former Sun Inn site have already been widely supported by the business community in Gainsborough and answer the need for a good quality hotel in Gainsborough.

Mark Dransfield, Managing Director for Dransfield Properties Ltd, said: “We are delighted to be working with Travelodge on these new plans for a hotel on the former Sun Inn site at Gainsborough as part of the wider investment and regeneration of this part of Gainsborough.

“The development has received a great deal of support since we first put forward our proposals for the site and we know that particularly in the town’s business community there is a real aspiration to see a good quality hotel developed on the site.

“With these plans we wanted to look at the whole area and see what could be done to improve Market Street, we are delighted to be working with West Lindsey District Council on improving the public realm and shop fronts in the area.

“This is an important site in the town and that is certainly reflected in the quality of design and architecture – we want to deliver a high quality building which is sympathetic with the area and using high quality materials which will stand the test of time.”

The company has applied for a £1.4 million grant to deliver the new hotel development. The plans will be submitted to West Lindsey District Council West Lindsey District Council’s Planning Committee following the public consultation event.

Dransfield Properties is working with the team from Dixon Dawson Architects to deliver an attractive Edwardian style building which is in keeping with the neighbouring buildings.

Eve Fawcett-Moralee, Director of Commercial and Economic Growth at West Lindsey District Council, said: “The council is pleased to confirm we are progressing well in our discussions with Dransfield Properties on bringing a hotel and a high quality restaurant into the town centre.

“In addition we are very excited about the possibility of a joint venture company to regenerate Gainsborough Town Centre.

“The grant funding for the Joint Venture Company will be discussed at the Prosperous Communities Committee and the Policy and Resources Committee over the next few weeks.”