Bid to convert Marks & Spencer staff rooms in Bridgwater blocked

7:30pm Sunday 24th February 2013 in Somerset By Newsdesk

Bid to convert Marks & Spencer staff rooms in Bridgwater blocked Bid to convert Marks & Spencer staff rooms in Bridgwater blocked

A BID to convert the former Marks & Spencer staff rooms in Bridgwater into 13 flats has been rejected on conservation grounds.

Bristol-based Da Vinci Developments said the building in Queen Street had been targeted by vandals, and its scheme would “revitalise and improve the area”, but a Sedgemoor District Council planning officer shared the concerns of Bridgwater Town Council, Bridgwater Heritage Group and Bridgwater & District Civic Society, saying “by reason of its poor design, form and materials” the proposal did not improve the character of the conservation area.

Comments(22)

windswept and interesting says...
8:03pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Easy answer - put in a new application with one less flat and it will sail through ;)

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RustyKnight says...
10:04am Mon 25 Feb 13

How come the Mercury hasn't got some trainee photographer who could run up to Queen Street and take a photo of the actual building in question?
I guess its cheaper to trawl Google images and find a photo that is obviously nowhere near here.

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cidreman says...
12:13pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Cllr Smedley ..
Take a look behind the Old M & S store ..it looks like someone as started building ..maybe you should take more notice

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Doverbeme says...
12:17pm Mon 25 Feb 13

If only they'd made a "donation" to the eco park.

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Cyborgigy says...
1:00pm Mon 25 Feb 13

"the proposal did not improve the character of the conservation area."

Change it to suit and off you go. To be honest its not as if its a stunning building as it is....

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MINIME2 says...
1:18pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Where in Bridgwater is this M&S store ? I must have missed it the last time I was in the town.

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cidreman says...
1:27pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Its now the sports shop in Fore Street
...it backs onto the castle club ...(The Old British Legion)

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MartinB58 says...
1:55pm Mon 25 Feb 13

cidreman wrote:
Cllr Smedley ..
Take a look behind the Old M & S store ..it looks like someone as started building ..maybe you should take more notice
Must be the unlucky 13th flat, the one that'll get torn down before the application re-appears for 12 along with a fistful of fivers for the ecopark.

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Bridgy old Boy says...
4:47pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Cidreman rather than continuing your pathetic attacks on Cllr Smedley why don't you do your civic duty and pick up the telephone and report this alleged "unauthorised erection" straight to the Planning Enforecement Officer?

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Samej1 says...
5:43pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Cyborgigy wrote:
"the proposal did not improve the character of the conservation area."

Change it to suit and off you go. To be honest its not as if its a stunning building as it is....
As the supporting documents alluded, just because the existing building isn't exactly full of aesthetic beauty, that doesn't excuse replacing it with something equally as lacking.

IMO it looks like a prison block from the plans!

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MINIME2 says...
8:36pm Mon 25 Feb 13

cidreman , I was reffering to the M&S picture on the headline. I know where the site is.
Bridgy old boy . No point in suggesting phoning planning they just put it in the in tray untill you ring again and then they may look at it.

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BaldCarl2 says...
10:38pm Mon 25 Feb 13

Perhaps the Blues Brothers (Notaro/Preece) can get this one through on behalf of Da Vinci developments.

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cidreman says...
9:21am Tue 26 Feb 13

Old Boy ..What when the Cllr lives 100 metres away from it ...and of course its in his own Westover Ward .

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bts73 says...
10:53pm Tue 26 Feb 13

Bridgy old Boy wrote:
Cidreman rather than continuing your pathetic attacks on Cllr Smedley why don't you do your civic duty and pick up the telephone and report this alleged "unauthorised erection" straight to the Planning Enforecement Officer?
"unauthorised erection" - holy moly, that sounds like a description of our old p.e. teacher from heathfield school in taunton, mr phil walker, whos currently being detained at her majestys pleasure for kiddy fiddling.

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Hombre says...
7:44am Wed 27 Feb 13

How can re-furbishing a crumbling building not be in keeping with the area? Surely this would be a forward looking re-generation project.
How about a donation for the concrete house.

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Cyborgigy says...
10:00am Wed 27 Feb 13

Having now seen the plans I must agree with Samej1, it looks like a prison.

Good statement by the Conservation officer "Its a mass with windows".

Its NOT that hard to find an architect who can come up with something nice that will blend with the existing buildings nicely. It seems they have picked an architect who specialises in commercial looking carbuncles....

Take a leaf out of Prince Charles ""it is possible, and important in human terms, to respect old buildings, street plans and traditional scales and at the same time not to feel guilty about a preference for facades, ornaments and soft materials,"
"Why has everything got to be vertical, straight, unbending, only at right angles – and functional?"

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cidreman says...
1:29pm Wed 27 Feb 13

No protest from the Backward Forward group ...

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MINIME2 says...
9:12pm Wed 27 Feb 13

Rumour has it that cidreman and preece are one and the same ???????

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ianeggbert says...
9:57pm Wed 27 Feb 13

Surely not, one is an illiterate buffoon with a narcissistic streak and a massively inflated ego who is never wrong and the other one is a....... Oh, hang on......

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cidreman says...
2:00pm Thu 28 Feb 13

So many negative vibes ...
But once you disturb the nest , look what crawls out

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cidreman says...
3:10pm Thu 28 Feb 13

Blue Owl
Take a look at ..this is the west country 3rd of July road accident ...Aplogies ..I would never deliberately offend anyone
from one ianeggbert
Complaining about the Police when road users died ....sick or what .

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ianeggbert says...
7:29pm Thu 28 Feb 13

cidreman wrote:
Blue Owl
Take a look at ..this is the west country 3rd of July road accident ...Aplogies ..I would never deliberately offend anyone
from one ianeggbert
Complaining about the Police when road users died ....sick or what .
Cidreman,

And your point is exactly?

If you would like me to give you details of my own personal experiences regarding certain contributors to this forum then you would be shocked.

And yes, you're right I would never deliberately offend anyone who didn't deserve it.

I find it amusing that you took the time to research my previous contributions in order to make a half hearted attempt at a rebuke

Must try harder dear old thing

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