Hotel to rival Tesco plans

A new hotel to attract tourists has been proposed for a former carpet site in Stourport instead of a giant Tesco supermarket.

Town councillors last night revealed their plans to fight Tesco's proposals for a store on the former Carpets of Worth site in Severn Road.

All but one of the councillors voted in favour of bidding for outline planning permission from the district council for a hotel building.

Last year Tesco unveiled its proposals for a 25,856 square ft store, 324 parking spaces, a petrol station and new road bridge across the River Stour linking it to Discovery Road. Plans for the store have yet to be submitted to the district council.

Tesco opened a superstore in Kidderminster in 2003 which boosted the canalside area in the town and created hundreds of jobs.Stourport's basin has recently been transformed into a haven for tourists but the area has little accommodation to support long-term holidaymakers instead of daytrippers.

The motion was proposed by councillor David Little who has long been opposed to plans to turn the site into a superstore.

Mr Little said: "The Tesco store is not the right option for this town and we have proposed a much more suitable alternative. We have some world-class attractions in the basin, the River Severn and nearby safari park which attract people from all over the region, he continued.

"We need to accommodate people who want to stay for a week or so and a hotel would be ideal," the councillor added.