Proposal
Use of highway for the siting of cafe seating along the side and front elevations, following removal of bench and 3no. bins.
Our Response

8-10 Bond Street form part of a Grade II late 18th century terrace of houses, now with commercial ground floors, situated within the city core of the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. 8-10 Bond Street form a singular shop unit on the south end of the terrace facing onto Upper Borough Walls opposite the Grade II* Mineral Hospital, and consequently features a dual shop front across its south and west elevations, with an additional shop front window opening on its east elevation. Historic photographs from the 1960s and earlier show the shop door in the south elevation to have previously been located to the left hand side, rather than centralised as at present.

BPT previously commented on application 21/01028/LBA regarding the insertion of new shop front windows on the east elevation.

We have some concerns regarding the proposed scale of seating within the limited confines of the allocated outdoor space, with potential to spill further out into the pavement through customer use. This area would retain its popularity as a pedestrian stopping point due to the World Heritage Site wayfinding monolith directly adjacent, and a concentrating of seating in this area may result in increased pedestrian congestion. A seating scheme at a reduced density might be better suited to the constraints of the site to balance external seating capacity with retained pedestrian amenity.

We feel the loss of public infrastructure is a shame and there is no indication as to their relocation or replacement elsewhere. There are additionally two trading pitch directly outside the eastern elevation which would need to be suitably relocated.

Application Number: 21/02222/FUL
Application Date: 07/05/2021
Closing Date: 24/04/2021
Address: 8-10 Old Bond Street, City Centre, Bath
Our Submission Status: Comment