Saturday 31 March 2012

Poundland shopfront application refused

Poundland's planning application for its new shopfront opposite Deptford Station has been turned down by Lewisham planning department.


Objections to the application were mainly due to the fact that the amended shopfront design failed to respect the proportions of the architecture and high quality finishes of the rest of the building, and that its location in a conservation zone demanded a higher quality treatment.

The council cites the following reason:

The proposed shop front, by reason of its design and use of materials would detract from the architectural integrity of the development approved under reference
DC/03/55454, dated 16 June 2004 and would fail to either preserve or enhance the
special character and appearance of the Deptford High Street Conservation Area. As
such, the development is contrary to Core Strategy Policy 15 High quality design for
Lewisham (June 2011) and saved policies URB 3 Urban design, URB 8 Shop fronts
and URB 16 New Development, Changes of Use and Alterations to Buildings in
Conservation Areas in the adopted Unitary Development Plan (July 2004).


A second application to erect an internally-illuminated fascia and projecting signs has also been refused.

6 comments:

Sue said...

Hurrah! Eff off Poundland!

Anonymous said...

Does that mean Deptford doesn't need the new jobs, that a new shop would bring, or are you all millionaires.

Jonathan said...

They'll probably just ignore it and Lewisham won't enforce. Removal of tiles of ex-Crown and Sceptre was never put right, despite Lewisham saying that they had to be restored.

Deptford dame said...

@jonathan I am aware of a number of similar breaches which are in various stages of enforcement, some more successfully than others. But that's no reason to stop objecting, nor indeed to stop nagging the council about enforcement.

shipwright's palace said...

The adversarial stance of the administration of the so called "Conservation Area" benefits no-one. If I understand correctly, Lewisham receives funds from English Heritage to administer the "Conservation Area". But what is being conserved? Not the build line in height or mass, not shop front period materials whether Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, 1920's or 1950's, (too many too mention) not roofing styles or materials whether slate or tiles, not fenestration patterns on Eighteenth century buildings (White Swan) nor interiors such as David Greigs. So why have a conservation area at all?Lewisham Officers far removed from Deptford issue their directives after the fact or act of transgression. Businesses proceed with changes and apply for permissions retrospectively, leading to Peter Guillery (Royal Commission) account,
"Deptford High Street is a place for which the phrase 'local distinctiveness' could have been invented. Its
character is fragile as Deptford is subject to intense regeneration pressures, as well as to the standard
pressures that changing patterns of travel and shopping have brought to many town centres. Deptford's strengths are in many respects diametrically opposed to those usually marshalled to buttress historic value. It is disintegrated, scruffy and unplanned, and has been heavily, casually and continuously rebuilt, altered and converted. It continues to be and depends on being in a healthy state of flux. It is highly contingent, unremittingly vivacious, and immensely diverse culturally. None of this makes it any less 'historic' than a National Trust village that has remained (or been obliged to remain) unchanged for a century and more. Deptford exemplifies qualities that have disturbed historians and aesthetes, improvers and conservationists, from John Evelyn onwards. An essentially classical tidy-mindedness has been extraordinarily pervasive, and inappropriately Arcadian ideals of urban space have misled us about the orderliness of Georgian London. Yet disorder, the juxtaposition of the unalike, and tolerance of diversity have surely always been positive factors at the heart of urban life. The brash shop fascias that proclaim 'American Nail Pashions', 'Bertie Roosters', or 'Juicy Fruits' are not out of place alongside Thomas Archer's early-18thcentury Baroque Church of St Paul. The 'vernacular' and the 'polite' have always coexisted here. "

agathiyan said...

interesting blog. It would be great if you can provide more details about it. Thanks you


J2ME Application Development