Luxury hotel and spa plan for Kirklevington Hall near Yarm
The former Judges Country House Hotel, which closed in 2023, will be renovated “to create a five-star luxury hotel containing up to 18 guest rooms” under the proposed development.
It is also planned to extend the hotel with a restaurant for up to 100 covers, joined at the back via a new glazed walkway, and overlooking a new outdoor terrace area.
Developer Kymel Trading Ltd says it has “exciting plans to refurbish the existing hotel to deliver Tees Valley’s only 5* boutique hotel with associated facilities including a spa, restaurant extension, event pavilion and woodland lodges”.
The new hotel will create 265 jobs on site and across the tourism supply chain, and generate £28m of spending, the firm says on a consultation site.
A new spa with gym, two pools, saunas, steam room, treatment rooms, exercise studio, changing facilities, bar and restaurant, outdoor dining and lounge areas is proposed for the east of the hotel building on Thirsk Road near Kirklevington and Yarm.
Former Victorian stables and courtyard will be converted into a function room with balcony and terrace, larger windows, new roof light windows and roof extensions under the plans.
Former staff quarters will be demolished and replaced with eight new timber-clad luxury cabins including outdoor verandas, with a walled garden to be used as a “flexible outdoor event space”, according to the proposals. The car park will be expanded from 70 to up to 300 spaces, along with new walkways and landscaping, it is planned.
A full planning application will go in for the development at a later date, according to a letter to the council from agent Lichfields.
The council is currently considering a “request for screening opinion” to find out whether an environmental impact assessment is needed.
Outline plans will also be submitted for up to 20 woodland lodge units accessed via woodland tracks, a one-storey events pavilion with outdoor events space and up to 25 “executive residential units” in the north and east of the site. The one or two-bed woodland lodges’ location is “currently unknown” but “will aim to minimise tree loss”.
The letter from associate director Heather Overhead says: “The hotel and ancillary buildings and structures have fallen into a state of disrepair, leading to its closure in 2023, and similarly the grounds have been neglected from regular maintenance. All buildings on the site are currently vacant.
“The proposed development comprises the refurbishment of the existing hotel and associated buildings and extension to provide a new restaurant and spa, alongside the development of self-build residential units and woodland lodges.
“It is anticipated that the proposed development will be constructed over an 18-24-month period. The main construction activities will comprise demolition of the existing former staff quarters, clearance of vegetation and woodland, installation of concrete foundations and utilities and erection of the components identified above.
“It is anticipated that the construction of the proposed development will be phased with the elements submitted for full planning permission constructed first, followed by the residential units and then the woodland lodges and events pavilion.”
The applicant says the development “will not be incongruous with the existing appearance of the site”, and the impact will be similar to the former hotel use. It also says it “will not have significant adverse visual effects”, with limited views from public places. It outlines planning permissions given for three major residential developments in the area.
It also argues the scheme will not lead to the loss of valuable ecological habitats, will include controls to “localised air, noise and lighting and water pollution” through planning conditions, and “no significant effects are considered likely”.
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It adds: “It is estimated that up to 1.5ha of Hall Wood would need to be removed to facilitate the construction of the woodland lodges and associated servicing and access tracks with a focus on avoiding impacts to the higher quality areas of woodland.”
It also says the plans will “largely preserve the historic and architectural significance of the hall”, with “relatively minor” alterations to the fabric of the building.
The Kymel site says a formal planning application will be made early this year, and if approved, construction could start on site in the spring or summer.