PLANS which would revitalise an eyesore on the main road to St Davids are recommended for refusal by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park planning officers.

The application to demolish the derelict Old Roch Gate Motel and replace it with a new complex of 40 bedrooms and a 90-seat restaurant were welcomed last year by leader of the County Council, Cllr Jamie Adams.

It was hoped that if given the go ahead it would remove an eyesore in the village of Roch as well as creating around 20 jobs.

However, Park planning officers state that the proposal, which would be built around the perimeter of the site with a central courtyard, is “not considered to be an acceptable design solution for this visually prominent site on the boundary of the National Park”.

The principle of the development of a new hotel is “considered acceptable”.

The proposal for consideration at next week’s Development Management Committee is for a hotel comprising four two storey buildings around 19 metres in length and 7.4 metres wide with links and large glazed doorways.

The restaurant, in a separate building, would be 37.9 metres in length and 7.5 metre wide.

The applicant, Mr I Bowie of Humbergrange Ltd, says that the proposal would increase the floor area of the site by a third, from 1,270 metre square to 1, 970 metre square.

The scheme was backed by Nolton and Roch Community Council which would “significantly improve the area”.

Two letters of objection were received raising concerns about the suitability of the development in a rural setting, the domination of the site by the development footprint and its setting in the local landscape.

There was also said to be a “surfeit of serviced accommodation bed spaces in Pembrokeshire”.

A recommendation for refusal is made because it would “represent a visually insensitive, incongruous and unsympathetic form of development that would harm and detract from the character, appearance and special qualities of the surrounding land”.