21/00100/FUL — Shrewsbury Town Council

Address	Proposal	Shrewsbury Town Council Decision
Unit 1 Monkmoor Trading Estate Monkmoor Road Shrewsbury Shropshire SY2 5TZ	Sub-division of ground floor retail to form 5 retail units and creation of 18no residential apartments on first floor	Objection
Application Date:
2021-01-11
Application Notes:
An application to demolish this building and build new housing was considered by the Town council in 2016 and at the time Councillors recognised the value this building place in recognising both its own history but the shaping of the history of the area and all necessary measures should be taken to carefully look after non-designated heritage assets like this. These types of buildings are extremely rare. The Council therefore wishes to place its objections to this application on a number of grounds: • EMPLOYMENT - This site is allocated within the local plan for employment use providing valuable jobs for the area. There is nothing contained within the application which would suggest identified users and retention/creation of employment. Given the precarious nature of non-essential retail at this time, we remain cautious of using the building of individual smaller units as a reason for approval without identified end users. • HERITAGE - the proposals significantly affect the historic integrity of the building. The fenestrations and buttresses of this building are very unique to this type of building and should be preserved and enhanced rather than removed and/or hidden from view. • OPENSPACE – this type of development triggers the need for open space. The Town Council does not believe that the proposed courtyard quantifies for such an allocation. This is a dense development and is remiss in its provision of amenity space for its occupants. This should not be mitigated offsite given the lack of proximity to public open space in the area • HIGHWAY IMPACT – there development is likely to attract a great car need than has been provided for. The public transport network is such that there is likely to be a reliance on the car. In a location where on-street parking as at a premium, there is no consideration as to the cumulative impact on the highway. This is clearly a concern to local residents in the area. • LANDSCAPING – there is little consideration for landscaping of this site, which will be meaningful, sustainable and attract to the visual amenity of the area.