Chichester conservationists hit out at city centre plan

The proposal to extend and refurbish 46 South Street by Chichester Securities Ltd has been signalled for approval by district council officers.

Nevertheless, opponents will hope to block the plan at Chichester District Council’s planning committee meeting tomorrow (August 19).

The ground floor was formerly LJ’s for Jeans, which closed earlier this year following the retirement of owner Len Macey and the sale of the building.

The ground floor of the building is currently empty and being marketed for a potential business to take over the South Street lease.

“The proposed addition is still overlarge, unneighbourly and detracts from the setting of the adjacent Grade-II-listed buildings,” said the Chichester conservation area advisory committee in its official response to the district.

Meanwhile, Chichester City Council said: “(We) object to the second-storey extension as this would produce a bulky, unsightly building which would be harmful to the appearance of the conservation area and overbearing on the listed building to the north.”

The application also includes a change of use for the first and second floors from retail to residential, with only the ground floor being kept as a shop.

If approved, the plan would see four new flats added to the first and second floors.

Despite the opposition, the applicant said the building did not satisfy the criteria for establishing ‘heritage significance’ and did not warrant protection as a non-designated heritage asset in the planning process.

“Realistically, it is only the aesthetic value of the building that is of any significance and this is derived from the small contribution that its street façade makes to the streetscape of the designated Chichester conservation area,” said the applicant’s design and access statement.

“The rear views from the public car park are not attractive.”

The building backs on to the South Pallant car park and is surrounded by a Grade-II-listed building to the north and the Grade-II-listed Regnum Club to the south.

The application has already been amended halfway through to change the proposed facing brick to the second-floor extension to hanging slate.

Council officers are recommending the scheme goes ahead, saying conditions could be imposed to mitigate some of the concerns ‘given the sensitive nature of the site’.

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