Plans to demolish the Buckingham Hotel in Buxton to make way for a modern aparthotel have once again been refused by High Peak Borough Council. The 19th-century building, vacant for several years, was proposed for replacement with a 53-room facility, but councillors ruled that the development would cause unacceptable harm to the area’s heritage.
The three-storey Victorian property, built in 1876 and among the first structures on Burlington Road, has been the subject of multiple redevelopment bids since 2016. Previous applications included proposals for a larger replacement hotel with underground parking, none of which were approved.
The latest proposal argued that restoring or repurposing the original structure was no longer viable. Planning officers disagreed, stating there was insufficient evidence to prove that adapting or extending the existing building could not meet commercial needs.
The council’s planning committee voted to uphold the refusal, maintaining that the public benefit of the proposed redevelopment did not outweigh the heritage loss. The decision reinforces local authorities’ growing emphasis on conservation and adaptive reuse of historic properties within the Peak District’s protected landscape.
