Shop plan would hurt conservation area - council

Yorkshire Trading Company wants to open a new branch in the former Barclays Bank in Thirsk

Plans for a branch of a discount store to be opened in a North Yorkshire town's former bank should be rejected, councillors have been told.

The Yorkshire Trading Company has applied to convert the former Barclays Bank building in Thirsk Market Place into a shop.

Under the proposals, a new 5,860 sq ft (545 sq m) extension would also be constructed at the rear of the building, with two flats created on the first floor.

However, planners said the conversion would harm the town's conservation area and recommended the scheme should be turned down by North Yorkshire councillors at a meeting next week.

In a report to councillors, planning officer Connor Harrison said the scheme would create 18 full-time jobs and bring a redundant building back into use.

But, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Harrison said the proposal would "largely obliterate" the well-defined historic "burgage" plot upon which the property stood.

This currently allowed for an understanding of the medieval origins of Thirsk and how this had shaped subsequent development within the town, he said.

While Thirsk Town Council had supported the redevelopment, Historic England had expressed concerns.

'Job opportunities'

Supporting documents submitted with the Yorkshire Trading Company's planning application stated: "The proposal will help to support the existing community by providing a wide range of goods within the town centre, reducing the need to travel.

"A range of good job opportunities will be provided."

The applicant also said the plan would protect the Market Place frontage of the building and the conservation area.

But recommending the scheme was rejected, Mr Harrison said the proposed development would result in "less than substantial harm to the character, appearance and significance of the Thirsk and Sowerby Conservation Area through the introduction of forms of development which are inappropriate in scale and massing".

North Yorkshire Council's Thirsk and Malton area planning committee is due to discuss the application on 20 March.

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