Plans for a new education and respite centre in Newport have been thrown out by the council planning committee over concerns that the proposals would have a detrimental impact on retail in the city centre.
Tom Gledhill, of Azalea Care and Education Ltd, applied to the council in August to request permission for change of use of 47 Commercial Street in the city centre from shops to an education and daily respite setting, open every day from 9am until 9.30pm.
Planning documents detailing the proposals for the supportive service set out that the unit, which was Bubble Bath and Bodyworks until January this year, is within a primary shopping frontage area according to the local planning policy.
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The planning documents also state that any development proposal for a non-retail use in a primary shopping location “will need to demonstrate that the scale, design and layout of the proposals are compatible with the overall functioning of the city centre, its architectural character and visual environment”.
Newport’s local planning policy states that such a proposal should not result in a break in the retail frontage which exceeds 15 metres. The documents state that the plans for the education centre would have resulted in a break of six metres.
The council’s planning department concluded though that the proposal is “contrary to the criteria … which seeks to retain the retail offering within the primary shopping frontage area in the city centre”.
“The proposed change of use would have had a detrimental impact upon the viability of the town centre due to the loss of a retail use,” reads the decision notice.
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