Torbay council has approved plans by Churchill Retirement Living to knock down the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay and build a retirement home in its place.
An initial application by Churchill to build 36 retirement flats was denied on the basis that it was too large and unsympathetic to the area. The successful application will see the hotel replaced by 21 one-bedroom and 11 two-bedroom flats, two communal lounges and a guest unit.
The 41-bedroom hotel was the inspiration behind the hotel in the Fawlty Towers sitcom. The site’s change of use was allowed because its location meant the hotel was commercially unviable.
The Independent, p. 9
