Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Friday, 8 May 2015
The Devonshire Street Demolition Decision
Buildings that survived The Blitz are set to be demolished after Sheffield City Council gave permission for planning to go ahead.
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| Photo by Shefnews |
The work will see 162-170 Devonshire Street knocked down and replaced by a three storey building consisting of 14 apartments, a restaurant and a shop.
The decision comes after a majority vote by councillors to demolish some of Sheffield’s most loved shops. However, there has been great opposition resulting in the biggest protest in the city’s planning history.
An online petition which gathered over 20,000 signatures was initially set up by Sheffield poet, Jonathan Butcher, who stocks his books at Rare and Racy, which is one of the shops that will be demolished. He said: “The repercussions of this will be immense. The amount of people who come to Sheffield because of its character and what it offers culturally has a massive impact on our reputation and economy.”
The councillors are the ones “to blame” according to Mr Butcher and their decision has come under mass scrutiny as local band, Drenge, have labelled Sheffield City Council as “one of the most spineless city councils in the UK”.
Deputy council leader, Leigh Bramall, has responded to these criticisms and said: “Perhaps they don’t fully appreciate Planning Law. I too feel disappointed that we do not have sufficient control to protect buildings in the manner we would like.”
Planning Law refers to the current National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which often takes the decision out of local councils hands and acts in favour of the developer. The NPPF was created in 2012 following the Coalition’s Localism Act in 2011 with the aim to make regional planning much simpler and more accessible.
Primesite Ltd’s application adheres to the NPPF as they state that the new buildings will retain the original character of those before them. Furthermore, planning officers have recommended that the plans should go ahead. Were the councillors to go against their decision and it went to an appeal, it would cost them excessive amounts money.
This meant that a majority of seven councillors voted in favour of the demolition, with three voting against and one abstention.
Sheffield Central Labour MP, Paul Blomfield, who is currently campaigning in the run up to the local election, has expressed similar frustration as fellow Labour party member, Leigh Bramall.
Mr Blomfield has laid out how his party would tackle planning issues differently if elected into parliament on May 7th. He said: “What Labour will do is give councils more powers to intervene and to stop decisions like this so that they have a greater opportunity to shape the communities in the way that local people want. We would give council’s more power to establish use class orders.”
These ‘use classes’ apply when buildings are categorised depending on their use by The Town and Country Planning Order 1987. In relation to this scenario it states that shops (A1 use class) can be changed to restaurants (A3 use class) without the need for planning permission. Increased council powers on use class orders may allow situations like these to be prevented in the future.
Sheffield Civic Trust have stated that the proposed restaurant or cafe unit undermines the Devonshire Quarter Action Plan, which suggests that the shops should be preserved to maintain Devonshire Street’s quirky character.
However, The Green Party’s Jillian Creasy, who is also standing for Parliament for Sheffield Central in May, is disgruntled by the decision but admits: “The Devonshire Quarter Action Plan is not strong enough guidance to trump the national guidance.”
She also said: “I think this is important because it’s a historical thing, wanting to retain those buildings that have some sort of architectural interest.” Sheffield Civic Trust have supported this view in that the trio of buildings ‘form part of the broader setting of the adjacent Grade II listed Wharncliffe Fireclay Works and adjoining showroom.’
However, despite the historical values of the surrounding buildings, the current shop buildings are not listed. The council could have undergone ‘spot-listing’ in a last ditch attempt to prevent the demolition, but this would only cover the building for six months whilst awaiting on a permanent decision. Mrs Creasy states that getting the buildings listed “might have made a difference.”
Whilst councillors and the public mull over how they could’ve prevented what seems an unstoppable decision from occurring, Jonathan Butcher says he will continue to challenge the decision with fellow opposers who are ‘aiming for a Judicial Review.’
Meanwhile, the shop owners of 162-170 Devonshire Street consider their future. The oldest of the shops, Rare and Racy, has been there since 1969 but the owner, Alan Capes, has refused to comment on the matter as he has a lease with the landlord for another two years. Either side of him, Natural Bed Company and Syd and Mallory’s Emporium will also wave goodbye to the area once deemed Sheffield’s ‘independent quarter’.
Syd and Mallory’s Emporium have displayed letters of opposition from the public in their shop window. Owner, Lucy Jo Newell, said she first heard about the plans to demolish her shop through social media. “We were annoyed and shocked. We thought this was the best location we’d ever get in Sheffield and thought we’d be here forever but then that changed.”
Stuart Haxton, a security officer at Meadowhall, understood the change and said: “The whole principle of business is that the weak ones go and the strong survive, that’s cruel but that’s what it is.”
Primesite’s agents, Coda Planning, have claimed that buildings are in a state of ‘disrepair’, echoed by the council. However, David Jenkins, 60, said: “The council’s argument is that they’re beyond repair but do we believe our politicians?” This is view is supported by The Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society who state that the building is in ‘generally adequate condition’ due to repairs undergone in the 1980s and thus Coda Planning’s argument is not valid.
For now the decision remains to demolish the current buildings. Development will begin on the area no later than the expiration of 3 years from the decision date to comply with the Town and Country Planning Act.
@JJShreeve
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