PLANS to rebuild a family-owned fish and chip shop destroyed in a suspected arson attack last February look set to be thrown out by Shropshire planners.
The shop in Broseley High Street was reduced to a pile of rubble in a huge explosion, and a plan has now been submitted by business owner Parminda Sandhu to rebuild the premises.
But planning officer Mike Clough has written a report to Shropshire Council’s south planning committee, recommending that they give the rebuild the thumbs down on the grounds that it will be detrimental to the town’s conservation area.
Mr Clough also says that although the design of the building is generally acceptable, it will dominate the skyline and affect neighbouring properties due to its overbearing nature, and will interrupt sunlight to a bungalow in Dark Lane sufficiently to warrant refusal of the plan.
The plan will be looked at by committee members on Tuesday because Broseley Town Council support the application and have made a representation contrary to Mr Clough’s recommendation.
Town Councillor Phil Robinson, commenting on the scheme, said that Broseley desperately needed a fish and chip shop in the town centre.
“We have another one, but it’s not as central. The loss of this town centre chippy has had an impact on the trade at nearby businesses, and the sooner it can be reopened, the better.
“This plan seems to be an appropriate re-build, along the lines of the original,” said Councillor Robinson.
But Shropshire Council’s conservation officer says that a significant increase in the scale of the building is proposed, particularly at the rear of the building, which was formerly one storey in height and would become two storey.
The explosion at the Broseley Chippy last year sent glass and doors flying for 60 feet across the street, and witnesses said it was a miracle no-one was hurt.
Insurers are paying the full cost of building a new shop on the High Street site after forensic tests confirmed the explosion was deliberate. The Sandhu family, who had run the shop for four years, were deeply shocked by the incident.