Officers back Premier Inn's plan to knock down the 1850s Glegg Arms near Heswall for 31 rooms, despite a 615-name petition. Councillors decide tonight.

Councillors decide tonight whether the Glegg Arms can be knocked down. Premier Inn’s owner, Whitbread, wants to demolish the building at the Gayton roundabout and replace it with 31 hotel bedrooms. Council planning officers recommend approval.

Wirral’s Planning Committee meets at 6pm on Wednesday 7 October at Wallasey Town Hall. The agenda and officer reports are published, and the meeting is webcast.

A second contested application is also on the agenda: turning the former Kingsmead school swimming pool in Hoylake into a leisure and wellness centre. That is also recommended for approval.

The Glegg Arms: what is proposed

The application, APP/26/00734, covers the Glegg Arms on Chester Road, at the corner of Brimstage Road. The site sits in Heswall ward, about 650 metres from Heswall town centre.

The officer report says the oldest part of the building dates from around the 1850s. It traded as a Beefeater for more than ten years until mid-2024. It now serves as a restaurant for the neighbouring Premier Inn’s guests.

The plan would:

  • demolish the Glegg Arms entirely
  • build a new detached annexe to the hotel, with 31 bedrooms
  • rebuild the front as a near-copy of the 1850s frontage, about 7.5 metres high against 6.7 metres today
  • reuse the original coursed rubble stone and the stone sills and heads where possible
  • put the dragon finial back on the front gable, and use natural slate instead of the current concrete tiles
  • add a modern glazed link and a two- to three-storey block behind

Because the existing hotel would also be rearranged to fit breakfast facilities, the net gain is 24 bedrooms, the report says. The doors on the rebuilt front would be for show: they would serve as windows to hotel bedrooms.

An earlier application to demolish the building, made in 2024, was withdrawn.

The opposition

The report records:

  • an online petition of 615 signatures asking for refusal, because the plan does not keep the historic facade
  • 10 letters of objection, one in support and one neutral
  • objections from the Heswall Society and Conservation Areas Wirral
  • a call-in by ward councillor Kathy Hodson, on the grounds that it would mean the loss of a heritage asset

The Heswall Society’s objection runs to several pages. It argues that the building includes the office of a former public weighbridge, which it calls unique in Merseyside and Cheshire. It says the rebuilt front would be a “pastiche”, with plastic chimneys and cement panels in place of the stone stacks and timber framing.

The Society also disputes that keeping the front is unworkable. It says Whitbread has provided no costings for the options that would retain it. It says it found the restaurant serving dinner to several tables, with a sign welcoming non-residents, on 17 September.

Why officers recommend approval

The council’s heritage team first objected, then withdrew after Whitbread sent more evidence. Officers class the Glegg Arms as a non-designated heritage asset of low significance, because of how much it has been altered and extended.

Historic England assessed the building and found it did not meet the criteria for national listing. The report says Historic England has since confirmed it will not revisit that decision, after the Heswall Society asked it to.

Officers accept that demolition is the “total loss” of the asset. They conclude the loss is outweighed by the benefits, which they give “moderate weight”:

  • a contribution to the local visitor economy
  • more visitor accommodation in Wirral
  • reuse of the site, and continuing its long hospitality use

The recommendation is to let the council’s chief planner approve the scheme, subject to conditions.

Kingsmead pool, Hoylake

The second item is the former Kingsmead school swimming pool on Carlton Lane, Hoylake, application APP/25/00915. The plan is to reopen it as a leisure and wellness centre with a café.

The committee deferred it on 13 August to look again at parking. The revised report sets out what has changed.

Detail
Parking off Carlton Lane 13 spaces, 3 of them accessible
Extra parking 10 spaces on the Bertram Drive school site, shared
Total 23 spaces, against a requirement of 22
Proposed hours Mon to Sat 8am to 9pm; Sundays and bank holidays 9am to 7.30pm
Support Petition of 1,142 signatures, plus 22 and then 92 letters
Objection Petition of 32 people from 25 addresses, 19 letters, then further objections to the amended plans

Objectors say Carlton Lane is a narrow, unadopted lane with no pavements or lighting, and cannot take the extra traffic. Supporters point to swimming for children and adults with special educational needs and disabilities. Officers recommend approval, with the hours secured by condition.

What it means for you

  • Watch it live. The committee starts at 6pm. The meeting page links to the webcast. The deadline for public statements has passed.
  • A recommendation is not a decision. Councillors can refuse against officers’ advice, or defer again, as they did with Kingsmead in August.
  • We will report the outcome. Our Wirral planning news page tracks the borough’s bigger applications.