by Ollie Heppenstall
A furious argument between Leicester City Council, the Civic Society and a local civil engineering firm has resulted in a proposed development in Rutland Street falling through.
Moorhouse Project Limited submitted the application to transform the Carron Building, which stands opposite The Exchange bar and overlooks the grade two listed St George’s Church, in late 2017.
The application was due to be discussed by the city council planning and development control committee tonight (Wednesday, March 14) but was withdrawn before the meeting.
The plans included transforming the warehouse into office space, retail space and an eatery, along with a vertical extension after a decade of various planning applications relating to the premises being submitted and given permission by the council, but never progressing further.
The Civic Society’s objection was quoted in the planning meeting’s agenda as being: “the roof extension is too high and not sympathetic to the existing building.
“Should trees in the churchyard be removed then the extension would be highly visible. The scheme is therefore harmful to the St George’s conservation area.”
While not objected to by Historic England, who proposed slight amendments to the designs and plans including bird and bat boxes being installed and a promoted species survey being undertaken if development had not begun a year after the previous survey, the application’s withdrawal means that the future of the warehouse remains uncertain.
