CONSERVATION ADVISORY GROUP

Meeting held 27th February, 2007

Name Organisation PRESENT: Mr. T. T. M. Hale Sheffield Chamber of Commerce (Deputy Chair) and Industry Mr. R. J. Marshall Royal Town Planning Institute Councillor M. Peat ) Sheffield City Council Councillor S. Dunkley ) Mr. A. Kirton South Yorkshire Industrial History Society Mr. A. Shepherd Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Mr. A. Hallam Sheffield Society of Architects (RIBA) Mr. H. Greaves Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society Ms. C. Ball Sheffield Civic Trust Mr. S. R. Jones Hunter Archaeological Society Miss. J. Sewell Landscape Institute Miss. R. Harman Victorian Society Dr. R. Harper Ancient Monuments Society

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1. JOAN SEWELL AND CHRISTINE BALL The Group welcomed Joan Sewell and Christine Ball, who were attending their first meetings of the Group.

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from the Chair (Dr. P. Booth) (University of Sheffield) and Councillor Alan Law (Sheffield City Council).

3. URBAN DESIGN REVIEW PANEL Mr. R. Marshall reported on the proceedings of the meeting of the Urban Design Review Panel, held on 22nd February, 2007, and at which the Panel had considered and commented upon three schemes – the proposed construction of a supermarket on the Hartwell site, Spital Hill/Saville Street/Carlisle Street, development on the site of the former Roxy Nightclub, Arundel Gate and the citadel development at West Bar, Corporation Street/Bridge Street. Meeting of the Sheffield Conservation Advisory Group 27.2.2007 Page 2

4. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS 12th December, 2006 The minutes of the meeting held on 12th December, 2006, were approved as a correct record and, arising therefrom, the Director of Development Services reported that (a) he was unable to provide any further information regarding the condition of Old Hall Farm, Conservation Area and (b) whilst there had been some difficulties in terms of negotiations with the Architect, the restoration works at Anglo Works, Trippett Lane, were progressing very well, and the developers were presently at the stage of restoring the remnants of the listed building.

23rd January, 2007 The minutes of the meeting held on 23rd January, 2007, were approved as a correct record, subject to (a) the deletion of the third paragraph in Item 2, commencing “Mr. Hale stated that …..” , (b) the substitution of the word “surface” for the word “service” in the last line of Item 4 – Sheffield Development Framework – Urban Design Policies and (c) the deletion of the second and third sentences in Item 6 – Conservation Areas (Broomhill) and the substitution of the following words “the Group considered that the level of density of the development would not be acceptable if it was a new build scheme and considered that the property should be converted rather than gutted”, together with the substitution of the word “converted” for the word “retained” at the end of the final sentence. Arising therefrom, and following queries from members of the Group, it was noted that (i) in terms of staffing in the Urban Design and Conservation Team, a new Conservation Officer was to be appointed shortly and five applications had been received for the post of Principal Conservation Officer, following its re-advertisement, and it was likely that an appointment would be made by July 2007, (ii) an article had been printed in the Yorkshire Post on 12th February, 2007, on the scheme for the development of flats in the grounds of Whitley Hall, (iii) the former Williams Brothers (Sheffield) Limited building had not been considered suitable for listing on the grounds that there had been too many alterations to, or loss of, internal features, (iv) there was no further information with regard to the removal of internal features from the Cornmill, Loxley, (v) the blue banner on the exterior of the Central Library, facing Arundel Gate, had now been removed, (vi) steps were being taken to find a suitable location for the Crimean War monument, which had been removed from the Botanical Gardens, (vii) the wrapped gateposts at Weston Park were being repaired, (viii) a comprehensive photographic record of the former Education Offices on Leopold Street had been completed and (ix) a decision on 5 Riverdale Road had not yet been made.

5. CITY CENTRE MASTERPLAN REVIEW The Group considered a paper containing a draft summary of its comments on the City Centre Masterplan Review, made at a special meeting held on 1st February, 2007. Meeting of the Sheffield Conservation Advisory Group 27.2.2007 Page 3

The Group approved the document, in principle, subject to (a) the deletion of the word “had” in the first bullet point and (b) the substitution of the word “what” for “that” in the fourth bullet point. The Group made further comments on the contents of the document, and noted the apparent omission of the Central Library building from the Masterplan. Mr. Hale indicated that, in the light of the apparent confusion regarding the minute referring to the poor state of signage in the City Centre, he would discuss this with the Chair of the Group (Dr. Booth). The Group also agreed that there should be some reference to the historic environment of the City Centre as it considered that this was a significant contributory factor to the area’s viability. Mr. Hale reported that he would arrange for the document to be amended along the lines now mentioned, and submitted to Simon Ogden, Head of City Development, and also encouraged Members of the Group to forward any individual comments, on behalf of their respective organisations, to Mr. Ogden.

6. CONSERVATION AREAS The Group considered the following applications for planning permission affecting a conservation area and made the observation stated:-

Tapton Demolition of existing Student Halls of Residence, erection of 99 apartments and 34 dwellinghouses with associated car parking (amended scheme) on land at Road and Taptonville Road (Case No. 05/03130/FUL). The presentation on the application was made by Rob Thompson, Urban Design and Conservation Team, Development Services. The Group considered that the proposed scheme would be over- development of the site and would have a severely damaging impact on the character of the conservation area. The scale, height and lay out of the proposed development were all considered inappropriate. The Group felt that a sensitive development at the top of the site, fronting Crookes Road, could be acceptable, but the proposed development at the sides and at the bottom of the site represented unacceptable over-development. It was considered that the development, as proposed, would have an adverse impact on the historic arboretum, which formed a botanical and arboricultural resource of outstanding importance, and which was considered invaluable to the character of this particular site. The Group recommended that (a) a request be made to the relevant Council Officer to give consideration to (i) adding the site to the scheduled list of historic gardens and (ii) apply for a Tree Preservation Order in respect of the whole site, at the earliest opportunity; and (b) a letter be sent to the Chair of the North and West Planning and Highways Board (Councillor Ibrar Hussain), with a copy to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, expressing the Group’s concerns about the application and reminding him of the importance of this particular site and requesting that all possible action is taken to stop anyone gaining Meeting of the Sheffield Conservation Advisory Group 27.2.2007 Page 4

access to the site to remove any trees.

7. BUILDINGS OF SPECIAL ARCHITECTURAL OR HISTORIC INTEREST The Group considered the following application for planning permission for development affecting buildings of special architectural or historic interest and made the observation stated:-

Extension to form apartments with vehicle passage way under at 48 Westbourne Road (Case No. 06/04761/FUL). The Group considered that the proposals were an over-development of the site and would have an adverse impact on the character of the conservation area. It was also noted that the proposed archway was of an inappropriate style for what was effectively the end of a long terrace.

8. HOLIDAY INN, MANCHESTER ROAD The Group considered an application for planning permission for partial demolition, retention, extension and conversion of tower, and erection of 2 x 4 storey blocks to create 121 x 1, 2 and 3-bedroomed units and 11 x 3 storey town houses in grounds, with associated basement car parking (amended scheme) at Holiday Inn (Post House Hotel), Manchester Road (Case No. 06/00836/FUL). The Group raised no objections to the proposed conversion of the tower block but, due to the size and height of the tower, it considered that the new 4/5 storey buildings represented an over-development of the site, with the overall footprint reflecting a lack of space between the buildings. The Group expressed particular concern at the lack of details regarding the cladding materials, and colour, for the tower, and commented on the lack of clarity regarding plans for any children’s play facilities when it was likely that the 2/3 bedroomed town houses would attract families. The Group also considered that there was insufficient soft landscaping to act as a buffer on this very prominent site.

9. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS Members of the Group reported on various issues regarding listed buildings and conservation areas, and the Group (a) noted that (i) the Landscape Institute was considering a request for Churchyard to be included on the list of Historic Gardens, (ii) The Ball Inn, Road, was again suffering from vandalism, (iii) an appraisal was being undertaken by a firm of private consultants regarding the proposed establishment of the Beauchief Hall, Brightholmlee and Farm Conservation Areas, (iv) following an inspection of Whirlow Wheel, within the proposed Whirlow Farm Conservation Area, it had been decided that there was no potential for conversion and that the most appropriate course of action would be to reduce the remains of the building to ground level for safety reasons and (v) clarification was sought regarding the proposed height of the new building at Moorfoot; and (b) requested the Deputy Chair (Mr. T. Hale) to write to the responsible officers in Development Services, commending them on (A) the excellent work undertaken in respect of the area outside the Railway Meeting of the Sheffield Conservation Advisory Group 27.2.2007 Page 5

Station, as well as the route from the Station to the City Centre and (B) the new pedestrian information points which had recently erected in the City Centre area.

(Councillors Ms. S. Dunkley and M. Peat declared an interest as Members of the City Centre, South and East Planning and Highways Area Board in relation to those planning applications that would be considered by the Board, but stated that they would participate in the determination of the applications by the Board, as they would not pre-determine their views of the applications during the meeting of the Advisory Group.)

(NOTE: The above minutes are subject to approval by the Group at a future meeting.)