Loss of heritage scuppers plans to demolish Banham barn

Plans to expand a convenience store by demolishing and rebuilding a neighbouring derelict barn have been rejected.

The application for the OneStop shop at The Appleyard in Kenninghall Road, Banham, would have seen the adjoining barn replaced with a modern construction, matching the existing size, shape and scale of the current building, which has been empty for about 20 years.

As well as more space for the shop, the plans included the creation of a café, which would have occupied a small section of the site.

At a meeting of Breckland Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, applicant Martin Goymer said: “The barn is not a listed building. We are looking at new for old, like for like.

“I have known the building since the early 1950s, when it was a cattle shed and then it became a farm produce shop.

“Like a faithful old dog, there comes a time when a difficult decision must be made and so it is with this old barn. It has served the village well but it is past retrieval for future useful purposes.

“I have not submitted this application to replace the old barn lightly, but it is time for that difficult decision.”

The council’s planning officers said the parish council had objected to the scheme, saying the building should be renovated, not demolished.

Further concerns were raised by the historic environment service at Norfolk County Council, which said the proposed development affected a heritage asset and a probable 17th century timber-framed threshing barn shown on historic mapping, adding that any work would affect the significance of the heritage asset, which, it said, was “worthy of recording”.

Prior to the meeting, planning officers recommended that the application should be refused, claiming that “the existing building plays a key role in reinforcing a sense of local historic character and distinctiveness in the locality”.

After lengthy discussions and questions to the applicant and the development agent, committee members agreed to refuse the application, by six votes to five.