Mansion in hotel scheme

Plans have been re-submitted for the listed Dunsley Hall to be transformed into a hotel after they were withdrawn last year.

South Staffordshire Council's planning committee will decide on the renewed application for listed building consent at a meeting tonight.

Dunsley Hall in Kinver was put on the market after the death of previous owner Elizabeth Marsh last year.Now, new owner Terrie Beardsmore has lodged plans with South Staffordshire Council to turn the house, parts of which date back to 1450, into one of the few places for visitors to stay in the village.

The property sold for £1.75m last year and is set to be turned into an 11-bedroom hotel.

County officials originally recommended refusal for the plans on the grounds of "insufficient information."

But those objections have now been removed after supporting evidence was submitted and the revised application has now been recommended for approval.

However Kinver Parish Council has objected to the plans on the grounds the access would be unsuitable for the proposed use. It is estimated 35 cars, on average, would be using the access every day. This is based on four staff vehicles, full occupancy of 11 bedrooms and 20 vehicles for a wedding.

The impressive home, complete with seven bedrooms, a huge paddock, indoor riding school and almost eight acres of land, was once the property of businessman Alfred Ernest Marsh, the man behind bacon curers Marsh & Baxter's.