By Nic Lance
A plan for a 6-storey hotel on the north bank of Brayford Pool is being considered by Lincoln City Council. Nic Lance has suggested that the hotel should produce renewable energy to meet some of its energy needs. “It would be a wonderful gesture as the hotel would be built on the site of the former Electricity Works – effectively a power station. At the beginning of the 20th century, coal-fired engines produced the first electricity for Lincoln here. So why not look towards solar panels and micro wind turbines to produce a new generation of clean, green electricity at the start of the 21st century?. Fossil fuels won’t last forever and recently, energy costs have shot up, so it’s a good incentive to produce renewable energy and Lincoln’s first eco-hotel.”
Nic argues that any new hotel by Brayford Pool should also be made flood resilient: the ground floor could be raised by one metre, waterproof plaster applied on the ground floor, and a sustainable drainage system included which includes non-return valves. Lincoln has avoided serious flooding in recent decades, but the north wharf has seen water seeping from the Pool in 2000 and 2007. A corner of the proposed hotel site is in the potential ‘rapid inundation zone’. “With global warming and extreme weather, it is best to take precautions – better to be safe than sorry”.
He would like to see the old Electricity Works frontage renovated and incorporated into the hotel reception or, turned into a holiday cottage for weekly letting. “It’s the last remnant of industrial architecture on the north wharf. Former warehouses in this conservation area have been knocked down and replaced by the Odeon cinema and unsightly blocks – none of which would win any national prizes for their architecture.”
Also, he thinks the hotel should be tiered, rising in steps, leaving one of the key views of the Cathedral from Brayford Pool and the south bank. The view over the Electricity Works has been included in various promotional brochures – the latest publicising ‘Spring in the City’ (including the free Discover Lincoln Weekend). Figures from Lincolnshire Tourism show that tourism is now as important as farming in Lincolnshire, contributing an estimated £1 billion to the county economy. The Cathedral is the main draw in Lincoln. “The Cathedral above the Pool is an amazing sight – at night it is beautifully floodlit”, says Nic, “ if this were in continental Europe they’d be falling over backwards to preserve this view”,
Rebecca Linney, manager of The Shed pub, is worried that a 6-storey hotel would remove her view of the Cathedral and Castle. She regularly hosts wedding receptions on the first floor of the pub were the Cathedral and Pool provide a stunning backcloth for wedding photographs.
The planning committee will meet to consider whether to approve the hotel plan on Wednesday 16 April 2008 . The meeting starts at 5.30pm in a committee room at City Hall.
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