Renovation plans for listed building rejected

Plans to renovate an historic Grade I listed building in Scarborough's popular South Bay have been rejected.

The proposals for the King Richard III bar and restaurant at 23-24 Sandside were blocked by North Yorkshire Council due to concerns they would harm the heritage building and the wider conservation area.

The installation of replacement timber windows and doors and the replacement of a section of lead roofing and render repairs had been proposed by the business.

Despite concluding that "the harm is classed as less than substantial", officers said the scheme could not be allowed to go ahead

Nationally, only 2% of historic buildings are Grade I Listed, and others in the seaside town with the same status include Scarborough Castle and St Mary's Church on Castle Road.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, North Yorkshire Council's conservation officer said the proposed changes "fail to conserve the shopfront window and door, fanlight and awning, which are features of architectural and historic significance".

The property had the "highest architectural and historic interest", they added.

"Great weight should be given to the asset's conservation and the more important the asset, the greater the weight should be," the officer said.

A planning report stated: "Although the harm is classed as less than substantial, due to the importance of the heritage asset, the loss of historic fabric proposed is assessed to be at the highest end of the 'less-than-substantial' scale."

In its application, the business said benefits of the proposed scheme included "enhanced security and energy efficiency for the cafe and bar, as well as local employment benefits during works".

However, officers said that public benefits would need to outweigh the assessed harm and said they were doubtful about "whether these are genuine public benefits and not private benefits".

They added that "no heritage benefit would result from the proposal".

North Yorkshire Council rejected the application, saying the applicant "has not provided sufficient evidence to justify the loss of these features on the listed building when appropriate repairs are also a viable option".

"Nor have they provided evidence to demonstrate that the public benefits of the proposal would outweigh the level of harm identified", the council said.

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