PLANS for a 44-bedroom hotel in Caerleon have been rejected amid fears over highways safety and loss of protected woodland.

The three-floor hotel was planned to be built in the existing car park of the Los Reyes Tapas and Wine Bar on Belmont Hill in Caerleon, Newport.

Proposals included a reception, gym and changing rooms on the ground floor, with a small cafe and guest rooms upstairs.

South Wales Argus:

An artist's impression of how the hotel would have looked

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The scheme also planned a shuttle bus service to transport guests to and from Newport city centre, ICC Wales and Newport bus and railway stations.

But the plans faced opposition with 12 objections lodged, including one signed by 19 residents, as well as concerns from Caerleon Civic Society and ward councillors.

Concerns were voiced over access to the site for pedestrians and cyclists, loss of woodland and air pollution worries.

Newport council’s highways department said the scheme would rely on cars or the shuttle bus to access the site.

“The use of Belmont Hill by pedestrians raises significant safety concerns and the steep gradient and lack of forward visibility may deter cyclists,” a planning report said.

Undercroft parking was planned to serve the hotel with 49 spaces proposed, but planners said this would lead to a risk of offsite parking which would “endanger vehicular and pedestrian safety.”

Planning officers also raised concerns over protected woodland already being lost and the scheme not proposing replacement planting.

A report said this “weighs heavily against the proposal.”

“The illegally removed tree habitat was of amenity and ecological value,” a planning report said.

“There can be no doubt its level of protection was justified and it is by no means clear that there is sufficient buffer zones in place to protect what woodland has been retained.”

Caerleon councillors Jason Hughes and Gail Giles have asked for the land to be returned to its former state and for trees to be replanted.

Planners said the scheme would bring economic benefits, but they said these were “poorly made out” in the application.

The plans aimed to help address a “shortage of hotel accommodation within the city” – but a report said details such as employment levels and wider economic benefits were not clear.

Newport council issued a decision refusing the plans on Wednesday, May 6.