Travelodge axed plans to open a hotel in The Parade, Epsom almost a year ago it emerged today, to the surprise of residents and campaigners.
A public consultation on plans to open a hotel on the site of the Comrades Club ended just weeks ago, with the Save Epsom group attacking the company's plans to open a hotel just a few hundred metres from the new Travelodge at Epsom station.
But this morning a Travelodge spokesman told the Epsom Guardian it had told would-be developers, Storm Land and Estates, back in December last year that it no longer wanted a hotel there.
He said he was prompted to put out a statement making its position clear after seeing an email news alert about the issue from the paper earlier this month.
Pressed on exactly why it no longer wanted to have two hotels in the town the company spokesman said the developers had failed to meet the agreed timescale for The Parade site.
He said: "We have got a hotel open by the station, but we are just going to settle for that at the moment.
"For the time being we are happy to see how the hotel by the station beds down."
A Planning Inspectorate spokeswoman confirmed today they were still dealing with an appeal by Storm Land and Estates after councillors ruled the plans were too large for the site.
Read FULL article from Alice Foster at yourlocalguardian
