Owners confirm, "White Horse Hotel will close soon." (Darlington and Sedgefield Liberal Democrats)

Darlington and Sedgefield Liberal Democrats <joe.kelley@darlingtonlibdems.org.uk>

Owners confirm, "White Horse Hotel will close soon."

July 12, 2006 6:00 PM

Alan Macnab, on behalf of the Harrowgate Hill Liberal Democrat Focus team, wrote to the owners of the White Horse Hotel, to pass on to them the overwhelming opposition of local residents - as revealed in our ward survey - to the proposed closure of the hotel and its replacement with 55 flats.

Sue Bennett, the general manager of the hotel, replied to Alan, stating that the hotel had been "financially unviable for many years now". She asserted that the organisers of the 'Save the White Horse Campaign' never used or drank in the hotel and that those on the protest march were not recognised by her staff.

She went on, "Although an exact date has not been confirmed yet, the hotel will be closing in the near future and the apartments will be built." This is despite being quoted earlier this year in the Northern Echo that the hotel would remain open for two more years. She concluded, "I am sure that when local residents see the quality of the development and how it improves the local area, they will soon forget the Old White Horse - which, of course, they never used anyway!"

Our survey suggests otherwise. This is just one more example of developers seeking a fast buck by building high density apartment blocks in place of long-established and attractive local buildings. The local Labour Councillors were unable to go against their Party line and, according to many respondents to our survey, were of no help at all to local residents in their battle to save their local hotel.

The story of the battle to save the White Horse Hotel from closure shows the impotence of local campaigners - despite the strength of their campaign - when faced with a planning process laid down by central government which favours the building of apartments on previously developed land and which is slavishly followed by local councils.

Local residents voted 98% against closure in a formal local ballot. Despite Darlington Borough Council's decision to allow limited hours for voting, over 400 people turned out to express their views.

The Save the White Horse campaign team believe that the hotel was purchased by Mr Patel with a view to redevelopment. Plans were drawn up within six months of the purchase. Furthermore, the decision to remove certain facilities, such as the pool table, appear designed to deliberately reduce usage of the hotel, to increase the chances of a successful application for redevelopment. Although the manager of the hotel asserts that local people did not use the hotel, campaigners assert that this is untrue; members of the campaign team were regular users of the hotel, despite the withdrawal of some facilities.

The prominent position of the hotel, and the success of the less prominently placed Burtree Inn nearby, suggest that the White Horse could have been run as a successful local hostelry. Local residents remain incensed that a viable and popular community facility can be closed and redeveloped despite the overwhelming opposition of the local community.

While it would seem that this battle has been lost, attention now shifts to the site of Beaumont Hill School. Demolished and cleared in a matter of days, what does the Council intend doing with the site. We've written to the Council to ask them.