Sail Hotel

PLANS to build a hotel at a prime seaside spot in Wirral should have been abandoned years before they were, according to a senior councillor.

Conservative John Hale said the decision to press ahead with The Sail hotel and sailing school on West Kirby’s marine lake were in trouble as soon as parking and traffic became an issue.

The scheme provoked controversy as it was being developed and then again when the council’s ruling cabinet scrapped the plans last month.

The cabinet decided issues regarding traffic and loss of car parking spaces in the busy seaside town outweighed the benefits a hotel and new sailing school might bring.

But Labour have now used the council’s call-in process to force the authority to re-think that decision.

Developer Carpenter Investments said the decision to scrap its plans at such a late stage will undermine future investment in the borough, a message backed by Labour leader Steve Foulkes who said “the abrupt cancellation of the Sail Project sends out a extremely bad message” to potential investors.