Plans to give The Burges a facelift take a major step forward
AMBITIOUS plans to transform a section of the city centre have taken a step forward.
A £2million project which would give parts of The Burges, Cross Cheaping, and Hales Street a facelift has been given the green light by council planning officers.
It allows the work, which includes the restoration of a large number of buildings, to begin.
The area dates back to medieval times, but the frontages on the east side of the Burges and Cross Cheaping date back to 1974.
In recent years, these have started to show their age, with many buildings displaying wear and tear.
The plans, which were announced late last year, would see these facades replaced with more sympathetic designs, and the decision by Coventry City Council last week allows for this work to begin.
Documents on the Coventry City Council planning website show the application has been submitted by the Historic Coventry Trust, with the purpose of “improving historic building fabric and assisting in the regeneration of the area.”
The buildings involved are a mixture of private ownership and part ownership by Historic Coventry Trust - and consist of numbers 18-30 the Burges, 29-31 Cross Cheaping and 1-13 Hales Street.
It has been confirmed that it is a full planning application for the majority of these buildings, and an outline application for 28-29 Burges, and 30 Cross Cheaping.
Images of the proposed shop fronts have been included as part of the application, and show how existing units such as Subway and Impulse could look.
The application shows that signage will be completely redone, and each store would have painted numbers.
Many of the shopfronts would consist of painted timber - and feature a glazed brick or stone stallriser - the section of frontage below the windows, transforming the front of each establishment into something resembling a more traditional store.
The proposals would replace existing metal shutters with more sympathetic looking models to give the area a more appealing look when premises are closed.
According to the council planning officer report, there were no objections to the proposals - with Historic England supporting proposals.
It goes on to say that while the details of the signage of each of the shop fronts “is considered to be acceptable”, a separate application for signage will be needed. The report concludes, saying: “In view of the design and visual improvements to restore these heritage assets it accords with development plan policies and supplementary planning guidelines and therefore the application is recommended for approval, subject to conditions.”
How did this plan come to be, and why? It is thought that work started on this ambitious city centre project in 2017 when initial studies were carried out on behalf of Coventry City Council.
This came as part of the Townscape Heritage Initiative programme.
Consultations between council planning and conservation officers, Historic Coventry Trust, private property owners, local businesses and
In view of the design and visual improvements to restore these heritage assets it accords with development plan policies
stakeholders, design teams, police and environmental agencies followed - including dropin sessions at the Old Grammar school over the summer.
According to supporting documents along with the plans, the development is needed as in this part of the city centre, “shopfronts types vary widely. There are some high-quality, early 20th century timber fronts with feature glazing, but most are lowquality aluminium replacements with plastic signage fascias from the 1970s and 80s.
“Though much of the internal building fabric is medieval in origin, the facades to the east side of the Burges and Cross Cheaping date to 1794. The roofs are mainly timber-framed with clay tiles, the southern end is of mostly eighteenth century origin.
“Many display evidence of historic structural movement, in the form of cracks, retaining ties and pattress plates, likely due to bomb damage in 1940-41.”
Money to finance the project came from the Department for Digital, Culture Media & Sport (DCMS), as a ‘demonstrator project’ for its £44million High Streets Heritage Action Zone programme led by Historic England, as part of an overall £62million investment in high street heritage.