With a commanding view west, overlooking the vista of Sharpness Docks, the terminus of the old Berkeley-Sharpness railway and the adjacent canal to Gloucester, the handsome Pier View Hotel has served customers since Victorian times and borne witness to many changes at Gloucestershire's often-now forgotten industrial hinterland.

But in the wake of the 1891-built hotel's auction last year, a new planning application filed this week before Stroud planners heralds a fresh chapter for the Sharpness establishment as new owners seek to draw a line under the three-storey hotel's near-130 years of service by converting it into flats.

Last July, landlady Christine Waite posted an emotional farewell message to friends on social media: "I was very lucky to have made nearly 36 years of service to you all with my wonderful incredible staff to have made it all possible. Also a huge thankyou to all of you lovely people who have helped me through the tough times giving me their skills and time as without them I would not have survived this journey. I want to go on but as I put this final farewell together my heart is breaking and I cannot write any more."

Two prolonged periods of closure during the Pandemic delivered a hammer blow to business for a venue which in recent years had enjoyed strong community support and in 2019, Ms Waite applied for permission for 14 homes at the 1.75-acre site (a 2017 bid for 23 homes having been refused). It was turned down at appeal. Planning officers ruled that new development would have negative impact on "a historic building of local architectural and social interest".

Auctioneers Morgan Beddoe marketed the property in May last year with a guide price of £700,000 and a spokesman said: "It has a rich history and is a significant local landmark."

While new dwellings on the site were refused, the auctioneer told bidders at the time: "there is still significant scope for a smaller development that preserves the existing sightlines to the property. The building itself offers an opportunity to reconfigure the upper floors to create more guest accommodation by reducing the size of the managers flat. Alternatively the property could be converted entirely into residential accommodation subject to the necessary planning consents being obtained."

GFC Property, who are listed as meat traders and based in Bristol, have now purchased the site, on Oldminster Road, and lodged a bid for a change of use to the hotel with conversion to three two-bedroomed and two three-bedroomed flats, as well as a rear extension, new vehicular and pedestrian accesses, car parking and amenity space. 

The project is proposed by planning agents MWA, based in Gloucester's Waterwells Business Park, and details of the bid, which is for market housing, include uPVC sash windows and a felted flat roof for the new section of the property.

A detailed heritage statement submitted with the latest bid indicates that the inside of the hotel "has recently been subject to a programme of strip out works. As the building is not Listed, these works were not covered by planning controls. Furthermore, the removal of internal plasterwork was required in order to address unsafe conditions and damp issues."

No date is as yet given for a decision.