News

Green light for Carlisle City Centre Premier Inn

Turley provided Planning, Economics and Heritage services to support Premier Inn’s plans for a 104-bedroom hotel in Carlisle City Centre, which received ‘resolution to grant’ last week by Cumberland Council’s Planning Committee.

The decision paves the way for Whitbread, which owns the Premier Inn brand, to invest £12 million in the new, latest format Premier Inn.

Cumberland Council’s backing for the scheme returns the high-profile, vacant site at West Walls on Victoria Viaduct to a hospitality use and demonstrates Whitbread’s commitment to growing its presence in regional town centre locations where customer demand is robust.

Jill Anderson, Acquisitions Manager, for Whitbread said:

“As a team we feel very passionate about this development. Bringing the site back into use as a hotel will encourage people to stay in the city centre, supporting other existing businesses as our customers eat and drink out, and will create permanent, flexible, year-round hospitality jobs with a leading FTSE100 company – creating long-term value the city.

“Redeveloping constrained locations such as West Walls is not easy and we have overcome many hurdles to design a viable hotel development. Cumberland Council have very much been on the journey with us, and I would like to thank them for their commitment to our plans as well as the many people who have helped us to secure this planning permission.

“It’s fair to say we’re all thrilled with the decision from the members of Cumberland Council’s Planning Committee to resolve to grant our application, and I look forward to engaging with the community as we progress the delivery of our new hotel.”

Senior Planner, Steven Healey added:

"We are proud to have supported Whitbread in securing this important milestone for such a prominent city centre site. The proposals carefully balance the site's heritage sensitivities with the need to bring forward high-quality accommodation, and this decision represents a significant step forward in unlocking long-term economic and place-making benefits for Carlisle."

Whitbread announced plans to redevelop the West Walls site in May 2025 and worked with Cumberland Council’s planning officers on the proposed design.

The 5-storey hotel, which will feature Premier Inn’s latest format ‘Standard’ and  enhanced ‘Premier Plus’ bedrooms, needed to take account of numerous design constraints including topography changes, height restrictions and the listed city wall which forms a boundary along part of the site. 

Carlisle City Council, the local authority at the time, was responsible for demolishing and clearing the historic hotel that once stood on the site in 2020 after it became structurally unsafe.

An independent Economic Impact Assessment, produced by our Economics team, was submitted by Whitbread as part of its planning application and estimates that the proposed hotel will deliver a £4 million / year economic boost to the Carlisle economy, supporting the leisure and tourism sector in the region.

Around 25 new permanent hospitality jobs are also anticipated to be created on opening and Whitbread’s investment is also expected to support around 45 established jobs in the construction supply chain during the build.

Subject to its ability to successfully discharge the conditions attached to the planning permission, the company is hoping to commence construction in 2026 and is targeting to welcome its first customers before the end of 2028. 

Currently the company owns and operates 11 Premier Inn hotels in Cumbria.

In line with Whitbread’s sustainability strategy, Force For Good, the Premier Inn hotel at West Walls will be powered by electricity backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) – with the building incorporating heat recovery systems and air source heat pumps to create a low energy demand.

2 March 2026

Images courtesy of Allison Pike Partnership