Green light for plan to transform former village bank into bar restaurant and retail units

AN ambitious plan to transform the former Barclays Bank at Lymm into retail units and a bar restaurant has been given the green light by Warrington planners.

As revealed by Warrington Worldwide last January, the proposed change of use of the bank at 4-6 Eagle Brow, which has been empty for several years, involves external alterations to form ground-floor retail units and 1st-floor bar/restaurant with 1st-floor rear extension

The plan, which sits within the Lymm Village Conservation Area, was submitted by applicant Corinna Nuttall.

The building sits in a prominent location on the corner of Eagle Brow and Bridgewater Street in the centre of the Lymm village conservation area. The immediate area is predominantly made up of retail units of various uses due to the site’s location within the centre of Lymm village.

A Heritage Statement prepared by local architects Randle White says the nature of the proposal is internal and external alterations of this vacant former bank building at 4 Eagle Brow, Lymm. At the ground floor the existing open plan layout will be broken up to form three separate retail units whilst at the first floor an open plan bar/restaurant space will be formed. A modest 1st-floor extension has been proposed towards the rear of the property which will not be able to be viewed from either Eagle Brow or Bridgewater Street.
As the original building at 4 Eagle Brow was demolished in the mid-1970s and replaced with the existing building there is little to no historical interest in the building.

The applicant wishes to reintroduce many of the architectural features of the original bank building such as its timber window surrounds and traditional sash windows which were lost following the building’s demolition in the mid-1970s.
The building’s significance in terms of its group interest and setting contribution will be in essence improved by the proposed changes and have no perceived harm to the Lymm Village Conservation area.
This application hopes to secure the future of the building in the form of an alternative and sustainable use. In the balanced planning judgement that the application requires, it is therefore concluded that the proposal satisfied the planning guidance on undesignated assets and therefore the application should receive approval.

The application was approved by planners under delegated powers.