A hotel has been given permission to expand after it shared fears over its future viability after ‘struggling’ in recent years.

The Quy Mill Hotel and Spa, in Church Road, Stow-cum-Quy, is due to increase the number of rooms it has from 51 to 96.

The hotel is also planning to extend its restaurant, spa, and gym in a move that its owners hope will help increase profits.

Some of the existing buildings within the grounds of the hotel are proposed to be demolished under the plans, but the Grade II Listed 19th century watermill will be kept.

South Cambridgeshire District Council refused previous plans for a larger extension to the hotel.

Planning officers told councillors at a planning committee meeting on August 14 that the previous scheme included a “huge, fairly monolithic extension”.

They said the current proposals broke up the proposed extension into three parts, reducing the massing of the new building in a way that officers said was “more respectful”.

Officers also said more information about the viability of the hotel had been provided.

They said the current profit margins were “well below” other hotels of a similar size in the area.

Officers said the concerns about the viability of the business helped provide the special circumstances needed to allow the extension in a green belt area.

Andrew Fillmore, a representative of the hotel owners, told councillors that the business had “struggled to remain viable”.

He said the hotel was “severely compromised” by the “physical constraints” of its size and the arrangement of the buildings that make up the hotel.

Mr Fillmore added that 51 rooms was not enough rooms to run a viable hotel business.

He said increasing the number of rooms available for guests and improving the arrangement of the hotel site would help the hotel to be more efficient and profitable.

Mr Fillmore added that the hotel would also be able to take on 20 new full-time members of staff, which he said would benefit the area.

Concerns about the hotel extension had been raised by Stow-cum-Quy Parish Council, which said it had “grave concerns” about the capacity of the sewage system to be able to cope with the extra pressure created from the new guest rooms.

The parish council also raised concerns about the increase in traffic coming to and from the hotel and the impact this could have on cyclists using the cycleway.

Planning officers highlighted that Anglian Water had confirmed the sewage system had capacity in the area, and that the highways team at Cambridgeshire County Council were happy enough measures were planned to keep road users safe.

Councillor Dr Tumi Hawkins said the district council needed to support businesses like this as she said it was a “key industry” in the area.

She added that she liked the design of the new buildings proposed.

Councillor Heather Williams said the hospitality sector had faced a difficult time in recent years since the covid pandemic and recognised it was a “big part of the local economy”.

She said she believed there had been “significant improvements” between the two applications for the hotel extension.

Councillor Henry Batchelor said initially his main concern had been about the impact of the extension on the green belt, as this had been the main reason the authority rejected the previous plans.

However, he said looking at the proposals before them he believed the reasons for refusal of the previous application had been overcome.

Councillors unanimously agreed to approve the plans.