Store redevelopment probed

The redevelopment of a city convenience store has been halted after claims the historic frontage of the original building has been destroyed.

It follows a visit by officers from Canterbury City Council to Costcutter on the corner of St Dunstan’s and Orange Street following concerns raised by city heritage watchdogs.

The Canterbury Heritage Design Forum (CHDF) says elements of the building date back to the 17th century, when it formed a row of cottages, and although the property is not listed it should have been preserved.

A planning application to extend the store with a twostorey side and rear extension, but not to demolish the existing historic frontage, was approved in 2018 with Clague acting as architects. Branding the scheme “rotten through and through”, CHDF minutes secretary Amanda Sparkes fears the work has gone beyond what was originally approved. “This again proves that the proposal is actually to demolish the historic frontage building and replace it by a sort of replica,” she said. Chairman Tim Carlyle added: “The whole site has now been razed, with important original portions of the building frontage now lost, as well as potentially below-ground archaeology.”

The group is now urging the city council to investigate. However, contractors claim the building had been unstable for many years and was found to be partly collapsed. A spokesman for the team behind the redevelopment says that a small section of the building that was to be retained has “unfortunately collapsed” during the works being undertaken relating to the planning approval granted in 2018. They add: “A full report into this matter has been issued to Canterbury City Council and works have temporarily ceased while this is being reviewed.” Authority spokesman Rob Davies said: "Concerns have been raised with us about work that has taken place at this building.

“We have visited the site and are investigating, and cannot comment further at the current time."

What do you think? Email kentishgazette@thekmgroup.co.uk

Work at the Costcutter store, which is surrounded by scaffolding and tarpaulin, has been halted

The demolition work is claimed to have destroyed the buildin’s frontage