Hotel painted pink without permission to be redone

A hotel painted bright pink without permission will be repainted in a lighter colour.

Caedmon House, Whitby, which forms part of The Royal Hotel, was painted pink in 2025, despite not having the necessary listed building consent.

The hotel will now be redone in a pale pink colour, after North Yorkshire Council and the hotel came to an agreement about a suitable colour that would also protect the history of the Grade II listed building.

Planners agreed the amended paint scheme was of an "acceptable standard".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the hotel initially agreed with the council that a listed building enforcement notice would be sufficient.

However, officers later confirmed that an enforcement notice could not approve a different colour scheme and could only request that the building be repainted back to its original colour.

Instead, the applicant decided to prepare and submit a listed building consent application to repaint the main elevations of the building, including the main façade.

Caedmon House is physically connected and functions as part of The Royal Hotel, but forms part of another Grade II Listing relating to three other properties.

The rendered three-storey hotel was built in the 19th Century and has a mansard roof, with an undercroft basement.

Following the original submission, officers conducted several site visits and raised concerns about the harm to the character and appearance of the building from the "iced gem" pink colour.

Planning officers said the revised colour was a softer pale pink mineral paint, which would be more sympathetic to the listed building and conservation area than the brighter shade originally proposed.

"As a result of its specification and softer colouring, it was agreed that the proposed paint scheme for the external masonry is considered to be acceptable to the listed building," a planning report said.

The application was approved by the council, subject to conditions, on Thursday.

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