By John Baron
Council planners have refused permission for a new shopfront and the installation of roller shutters at a shop on Armley Town Street.
Applicant Mr Iftakar Ali also wanted to introduce a floor to ceiling window and new entrance door at his shop at 2-4 Town Street.
Openings would be aluminium, and powdered coated to be anthracite grey, with internally boxed roller shutters to both. The proposals would lead to the subdividing of the shop.
The Grade II Listed The Malt Shovel public house is next door.
But a council planning officer’s report refusing the application concluded: “From submitted details, it is not clear whether there would be positive benefits for subdividing the retail unit to Armley Town Centre.
“The principle of this development could potentially be supported, however officers would need to have a greater understanding of the proposed scheme’s impacts on the town centre, their specific Use Class, proposed hours of operation and how it is proposed to service those units.”
The report expressed concerns over the new shopfront.
It added: “The proposed shopfront would incorporate overly engineered, modern materials, deep fascias and a poor window-to-wall ratio, resulting in a non-traditional, shopfront appearance.
“This design would not appear sympathetic or well-integrated with the host building or the wider Armley Conservation Area and would create a visually prominent and discordant feature adjacent to nearby Grade II Listed Buildings.
“No clear or convincing public benefits have been demonstrated that would outweigh the identified less-than-substantial harm to Armley’s heritage assets.”
The plans can be viewed in full here.
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