1 Railway Street, City Centre

1 Railway Street is an unlisted shop building, likely dating to the late 19th to early 20th century, situated within the core of the Bath conservation area and World Heritage site. It is positioned directly adjacent to the south-east building of the 2009-2010 Southgate development, and therefore forms part of Bath’s popular shopping district. BPT previously commented on recent planning application 20/02763/FUL, now permitted, for the replacement of its 1960s shop front with a new timber shop front.

BPT regrets the use of a “plastic and metal” hanging sign. Painted timber or high-quality metal hanging signage is identified as a traditional aspect of areas of Bath’s commercial streetscape, and is an attractive feature of Bath’s historic centre. We maintain that the use of cheaper, overtly modern materials such as plastic would be at odds with the traditional commercial character and appearance of the conservation area and would therefore be inappropriate.

We strongly recommend that the proposed hanging sign is reconsidered and an appropriate alternative selected, such as a timber hand-painted sign which would be better suited to the bespoke, material approach to Bath’s shop front vernacular.

In its current form, this application would not preserve or enhance the appearance of the conservation area, and would be contrary to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 16 of the NPPF, and Policies BD1, CP9, D1, D2, D3, D9, and HE1 of the Core Strategy and Placemaking Plan and should be refused or withdrawn.