This is where an planning applicant wants to build a new shop or office

THIS open space in the centre of town could be lost if permission is given to build a new shop or office, wrapped round the 19th century chimney of a smithy which provided parts for a coach manufactory next to it. 

   At the moment, it is an open area in The Cocoa Yard - a pleasant pedestrian way that links Hospital Street and Pillory Street. What doesn't appear in the picture - taken in March - are the tables where customers of the food shop (left of picture) sit. This gives the space a pleasant holiday/touristy feel in the warmer months.

   For copyright reasons, I can't show you a picture of the proposed shop/office which the site owners would like to build there. But you can see it for yourself by visiting the new Cheshire East Council's website and look under Planning Applications On Line towards the bottom of the page. [Go to Street Name box and select Cocoa Yard, Nantwich. Click on Search. You will need to allow pop-ups on your website to see the various documents. The application number, for the record, is P09/0146.] 

   One of the things objectors don't like is that part of the new building will be built around the brick chimney which is currently an object of interest to townspeople and visitors alike. One of the objectors is Nantwich Civic Society, whose Chairman, Jeff Stubbs, said: ". . . we consider that to build another structure on this particular site is the wrong thing to do. If (the chimney) is incorporated into the new building much of it will be lost to public scrutiny."

    The Millennium Clock which stands in front of the chimney would not be affected.

    Nantwich Town Council is among those who have objected to the planning application.

    Actually, the excellent graphics accompanying the planning application show that a single storey structure next to the proposed shop or office, the entrance area to the new building, would wrap around behind the chimney, leaving the front face still visible. The chimney will not be left thrusting out of the roof of the building as I first thought might be the case.

   But a view into the chimney (above, right) - at the rear of the structure - will be inside the single-storey structure. It would seem that this would be part of the shop area - but I feel it would dominate the small area and might therefore be hidden behind a display area. And if the new building was taken over as an office, would it be the type to which the public had access anyway?

   However, perhaps more important than the loss of the visual aspect of the chimney is that the proposed building - while fitting in an historic town like Nantwich - would, in my opinion, be out of keeping with other, modern, buildings in The Cocoa Yard. As you will see from my picture (above, left), these are two or three-storey brick-built buildings.

   The two-storey part of the proposed shop/office would be half-timbered with a gable end facing The Cocoa Yard. If this were a genuine old structure, still surviving the passing years, there might be some justification for it being there.

   But to build it anew would be out of keeping with the area. It's looks like a great building, but it would be in the wrong place.

   As for being shoe-horned into The Cocoa Yard (another objection), all I can say is that the planning application graphics don't give that impression. And all that would be lost to passers-by (above) would be what looks like a garage door next to the food shop (see main picture). Actually, if it is a garage, access would be impossible if the shop/office were allowed.   

The decision

A LITTLE late in the day - sorry - I checked on the plan for a new shop in The Cocoa Yard and found that the application had been withdrawn last April. I hope you weren't holding your breath!

   If you go on to the Cheshire East Council website and follow the various planning application links you will see the withdrawal notice and the words: "Current Status: Final Decision".