BUSINESSMAN Alan Kanerick has pledged to appeal against a controversial decision which has sent his plans to turn a Victorian seafront hotel into a retail and housing complex off the tracks. West Somerset Council's planning committee went against the advice of officers at a meeting on Tuesday and refused to approve the development at the Beach Hotel, which lies in one of Minehead's designated conservation areas. It was the third time the scheme, which would see the hotel converted into 14 flats, a mix of restaurants, takeaway outlet and convenience store, had come before the committee after being deferred on two previous occasions for a site visit and further information to be made available. Councillors came up with three reasons for their decision: l Insufficient information submitted to enable the potential conflict between vehicles servicing the variety of uses proposed to be satisfactorily addressed in terms of highway safety l The failure to provide an adequate assessment of the potential impact of the proposed loss of the building as a hotel and the introduction of a take- away outlet on the surrounding tourism area l The failure to maximise the potential number of residential units to be able to provide affordable housing on the site - the trigger number of units which forces developers to provide affordable homes is anything over 14. But Mr Kanerick, who attended the meeting, raised doubts about the validity of the reasons and said he was perplexed and disappointed by the committee's decision. He said he had only been asked to provide a traffic survey in regard to vehicles servicing the site ten days before the meeting and, although county highways chiefs had been happy with a proposal to create a service bay, they had been unable to confirm it in writing in time. Mr Kanerick described the second reason for refusal as "ridiculous" and "not even arguable". "The West Somerset Local Plan is silent on the loss of hotels - the fact that it has no policy is explicit in itself," he said. And in respect of the third reason, Mr Kanerick said there was nothing within existing legislation to force a developer to increase the number of residential units. He said that the current number proposed ensured that the development followed the grain of the building to conserve its character. "I challenged the planning officers to see if they could create eight flats on each floor, instead of seven," said Mr Kanerick. "As it is, this building has been treated as if it was listed simply because it is in a conservation area. I was prepared to change the take-away unit to ordinary retail use but it would mean putting in a shop window and that did not meet with the approval of county conservationists." Mr Kanerick's plans have prompted a raft of objections from local conservationists who submitted a 396-signature petition from people opposing the loss of the hotel and insisting the Beach had a viable future in its current form. But Mr Kanerick said the building would need around £750,000 of upgrading work to continue as an hotel. "The objectors simply asked people if they opposed the closure of the hotel - I would have signed a statement like that if somebody had asked me but the reality is that the council does not have a policy that supports it and these objections have nothing to do with planning legislation. "I am extremely disappointed by the decision but above all I am perplexed because I simply do not understand why this scheme has been turned down. "And the result of this decision is likely to be a huge waste of taxpayers' money."