THE developer behind plans for Hull's first four-star hotel and conference centre says he will not give up after councillors compared it to a "fag packet".
Hull-born Tim Fulstow says he has already spent millions trying to get the ambitious project off the ground.
Yesterday, planning committee councillors voted unanimously to refuse permission for the 18-storey hotel and conference complex earmarked for a site in High Street close to Myton Bridge. They had previously agreed a different design for a taller 22-storey hotel at the same spot.
Hotel operator Rezidor Hotels is being lined up to run it under the group's Radisson Blu brand.
However, the design changes promoted by the need to create a more financially viable building failed to impress the committee, with Councillor Alan Clark leading a chorus of criticism.
He said: "Approving this would be like bringing a North Korean nuclear missile silo to the city. I am sorry to say this is not the improvement I was hoping for."
Councillor Terry Keal said: "It has been described as looking like a fag packet and I would agree with that. It does."
And former planning committee chairman Councillor John Fareham said Hull deserved better than something that resembled "a mid-level polytechnic from the 1970s".
Speaking after the decision, Mr Fulstow said: "I feel completely deflated over this.
"This new design is financially deliverable, the right investment structure is in place, we've got contractors lined up to build it and we want to bring an iconic building to Hull.
"As it is, the decision means Hull might not have a four-star hotel or a conference centre by 2017 when it wants to be the UK City of Culture.
"Without having either of those, what are they going to do? Put up a giant bivouac?
"Disappointed doesn't even come close to describing how I feel but I am not just going to drop this.
"Although I disagree with them, I can understand where some of the councillors are coming from.
"I have personally spent millions to get where we are now and I'm not going to give up."
Mr Fulstow said he now faced the challenge of making his original plans affordable.
"I have got to make it achievable for us and for the city," he said. "It's got to be something we can all benefit from.
"There is no point in putting a building up that no one uses and closes within a few months.
"The challenge I face now is making the previously approved scheme affordable. What we don't want to be doing to trying to sell hotel beds in Hull for £400 a night because that is not going to happen. It's not realistic.
"We have got a great design approved, the council likes it and we will have to work with that.
"We might have to make some of the rooms smaller than we had originally planned but I cannot afford to sit around for another six months waiting to see if an appeal succeeds or not.
"We will be re-engaging with the council planning department to find a solution."
London-based Mr Fulstow said the size and scale of the new hotel and conference centre was meant to mirror Hull's ambitions to re-invent itself as the UK's Energy City.
"I deal with Siemens on another product we are involved with on a regular basis and I know the guys from Siemens who have been working on the Hull project.
"I know they support what we are trying to do and I know several other major companies are willing to put time into Hull."
• Pictures: Artist's impressions of the riverside hotel
