Council team won't object to Shrewsbury Travelodge next to 'lucky' iconic building
A council's historic environment team will not stand in the way of a controversial 83-bed Travelodge being built - despite it sitting next to one of Shropshire's most iconic old buildings.
The plan for a budget hotel and retail complex on the Barker Street car park in Shrewsbury town centre has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, particularly due to its proximity to the Grade II-listed Rowley's House and Mansion.
However, Shropshire Council's historic environment team said Rowley's House only has visual prominence because it was lucky to be spared demolition from the mid 20th century.
A report acknowledges "significant" opposition to the plan, but the team will not be objecting to it.
It says: "Officers are mindful that the Masterplan Vision for the Shrewsbury Big Town Plan advocates the reintroduction of built form into the surface car parks adjoining Barker Street and St Austin’s Street, including the present development site.
"Likewise, whilst many of the surrounding streets retain their close-grained plots and high-quality townscape, the 20th century clearances and demolitions on what are now the car park sites have left ‘voids’ in the townscape and overall urban grain of this area of the town.
"As a consequence, officers consider that the existing ‘black top’ surface car parks create poor quality, car-dominated spaces which, together with the exposed steelwork on the unfinished side elevations of the Claremont Baptist Church, make a negative contribution to the character and appearance of this part of the conservation area and to the setting, and thereby the significance, of Rowley’s House and Mansion.
