Alfie Best plan for Bromyard Hop Pole Hotel revamp changes again

The Hop Pole Hotel in Bromyard has been a long-decaying sight in the town's Market Square, with planning permission for an extensive internal refurbishment applied for.

But those plans have since been updated again since the changes to scrap dining in the basement.

The rear of the Hop Pole Hotel, Bromyard. Picture: Rob Davies

Alfie Best, founder and chair of Wyldecrest Parks which own Sapey Golf and Country Club and Saltmarshe Castle Residential Park nearby, bought the hotel in 2019 and said the refurb would save the "dying town".

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Plans from Nick Joyce Architects, which were said to be on behalf of Essex-based Wyldecrest Parks, showed a single-storey flat-roofed extension was proposed for the rear of the building, which backs onto Rowberry Street.

But it was initially going to provide customer access to the "newly-discovered" basement, but now will just house a dining area for around 10 people.

The bedrooms were a mess when Alfie Best bought the hotel

It was initially planned to house stairs down the basement, which was going to have space for 20 customers to dine, but in changes made in October, this was changed to just a storeroom, boiler room and bottle and beer storage.

Now, architects have revised plans for the attic, and shown planners, in detail, how it plans to add a new flat roof to cover an existing gulley.

In the latest revisions, published by Herefordshire Council in January, the staircase from the second floor to the attic has also been moved.

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The whole application, sent off to Herefordshire Council, said internal alterations, including the conversion of attic space and additional rooflights were also needed – which Mr Best, who featured in ITV's Undercover Big Boss last year, previously said was so more rooms could be created.

The Hereford Times understands that the latest changes come after another meeting with planners over the listed building consent.

If the planning permission and listed building consent are granted by the council, there would also be a ramp to the front door for disabled access and a historic window would be reinstated.

Alfie Best at the Hop Pole Hotel in Market Square, Bromyard, which he is planning to revamp

The plans also said that there were no bats or nesting birds found within the building in April 2021, and there was a sustainable drainage strategy drawn up to prevent contributing to the high levels of phosphates in the river Lugg catchment area.

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Plans have also been drawn up to minimise the impact on the local transport network, which should also give customers a choice of transport, including walking, cycling and buses.

A Grade II-Listed building, the plans for the hotel aim to "conserve ad enhance the historic environment", the architect working on the scheme said.

A pile of fire extinguishers in the main room of the ground floor

After buying the hotel in 2019, Mr Best – named the 382nd richest person in Britain in the Sunday Times Rich List in 2020 – said he would plough £1.2 million into the hotel, some of which would come from the profits made at Saltmarshe.

Herefordshire Council is yet to make a decision on the plans, with the bid first being submitted in October 2021.

The target determination date was December 27 that year.