Call for firms to take more care of city history

A planning application was submitted to retain Cash Generator's signage

Bradford residents are "fed up" with businesses making major alterations to historic buildings and then asking for permission afterwards, the chair of a local heritage group has said.

Chair of Bradford Civic Society Si Cunningham said businesses should "get the message" that they cannot change a building's appearance without going through the proper procedure.

His comments came after a second application by Cash Generator to retain modern signage on a Grade II listed building dating back to the Victorian era.

A statement in the company's new application says: "The proposal does not have a detrimental impact on the character or appearance of the Listed Building."

It adds: "If anything, [it] ensures the reuse and upkeep of this otherwise vacant property ensuring it does not fall into disrepair."

The pawnbroker opened a new Bradford city centre branch in the former Pearl Assurance House, on the corner of Kirkgate and Bank Street in September 2024, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The building was designed by architects Lockwood and Mawson and is also part of the City Centre Conservation Area.

As part of the move, the company fitted bright blue and yellow signage on the building without listed building consent, or advertising consent, leading to criticism from local heritage groups.

A retrospective application to keep the Cash Generator signage was submitted by the company, but this was refused earlier this year.

The latest application, which would see some changes to the design, is expected to be decided next month.

The signage on the pawnbroker was installed at the same time Historic England was awarding Bradford £2m to set up a Heritage Action Zone.

The funding could be used to help bring long-empty city centre buildings back into use, and remove tacky modern frontages from some of the city's architectural gems.

"With the new market open on Darley Street, footfall is now much higher in this part of town, so we must encourage the highest standards of design, particularly as it's at the heart of our new Heritage Action Zone," Mr Cunningham said.

"I wish that occupiers and building owners would get the message that it's their responsibility to get planning matters right first time to avoid costly enforcement action.

"The people of Bradford are fed up of it."

Richard Butterfield, partnerships team leader from Historic England, said businesses were "ultimately breaking the law" when making changes to listed buildings without permission.

"The worst case scenario is that businesses are then subject to enforcement action, which can in fact lead to them actually having to remove the changes that they've made and restore the historic frontage of the building back to how it was previously," he said.

"I think we'd all recognise that we've got some of the most amazing historic town centres in the north of England and really Bradford has some of the finest architecture of any city centre in the north.

"So when you see individual buildings adapted and changed without due consideration of their historic context then, that really can impact very negatively on the whole of the area."

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