South Gloucestershire Council: Pure Town Planning are thrilled to announce that we have secured planning permission for the conversion of a former public house to 1no. dwellinghouse (Use Class C3) and the construction of a convenience store with 3.no flats above and 1no. new detached dwellinghouse with access, parking and associated works in the village Frampton Cotterell, near Bristol.
Working in collaboration with UAN Architecture, we prepared, submitted and managed a planning application for the proposed development. Due to the complexity of the proposal, which included the conversion of a locally listed building, and significant delays caused by the Council’s Planning Department in processing amended plans and determining the application at Planning Committee, the application took nearly 2 years to get approved. However, we persisted and got the approval in the end!
As part of the application, we prepared a comprehensive supporting design, access and planning statement which set out the merits of the proposal in a clear and concise manner, whilst making it clear that the development was in accordance with adopted planning policies that support economic growth and the provision of new community facilities.
To ensure compliance with local and national planning policy that aims to safeguard the vitality town centres, the application was supported by a retail impact assessment, which was prepared by Alder King Property Consultants. The report demonstrated that the settlement had limited retail provision to meet the needs of local residents and thus the proposal would allow local choice and competition to satisfy day-to-day shopping needs and small-scale top-up purchases without causing harmful impacts upon the existing local centre.
In addition, marketing and viability reports were prepared by Savills to justify the loss of the public house, which had been vacant for several years. Whilst ADL Traffic & Highways provided expert transportation consultancy to ensure that the parking and delivery movements generated by the new convenience store and residential units could be safely accommodated on the highway network.
Upon considering the application and supporting documents, the Council agreed with our conclusions and the Officer recommended approval. Due to the number of objections, the application had to be determined by the Council’s Planning Committee. At the initial meeting in October 2023, the Members deferred the determination of the application to seek more information on the retail impacts. This information was provided by the Council’s independent retail consultants who agreed with Alder King’s conclusions. On that basis, the application was approved by Planning Committee at a further meeting in December 2023 and planning permission was finally granted! The client was delighted with the decision and is now preparing for the redevelopment of the site.
If you have a commercial premises and would like to pursue a change of use application, or any other commercially-related planning application for that matter such as; increasing opening hours, new shopfronts, new signage, canopies etc. then then why not call Pure Town Planning on 01202 585524 or email info@puretownplanning.co.uk to find out how we can help you.