Romsey and District Society

SHOPFRONT AUDITS 2006

• Methodology

The 2006 audit covered all 153 shopfronts, banks, restaurants etc in the town centre and within the Conservation Area. Audits were carried out at the end of 2006, mostly in November. A team of seven Society members noted changes that had taken place since the written assessments and photographs were made in 2004/5. It is convenient to divide the changes into two groups, significant and minor:
Significant changes are defined as changes which significantly alter the visual impact of the building. Examples of this group are garish replacement fascias and, more obviously, where the whole shopfront has been rebuilt. In the latter case, new assessments and photographs have been added to the files. Other significant changes were noted on new photographs.
Minor changes are defined as changes which do not significantly alter the appearance of the building. For example, the removal of a sign or repainting of the building and the fascia in a similar style to its predecessor are considered minor. Buildings with minor changes were photographed and text was added to the photograph describing the change and giving the year of the audit.
New assessments and photographs were added to the files and to the six discs in the front of the files. No previous information was discarded.

• Summary of findings

In all, 37 changes were recorded. New assessments and 100 photographs were added to the Society’s and the Council’s files and discs. 10 changes were regarded as significant and 27 as minor.

2.1. Notes on significant changes
The 10 significant changes were to:

7-9 The Hundred, now M&Co, previously Thompson and Ladbroke. Built for Ottakars, this is a handsome replacement for the previous shops. (Planning permission granted)
16 The Hundred, Longs, had its window and stallriser set back to make room for an outdoor display of produce. An improvement. (Planning permission granted)
29 The Hundred, now Ladbrokes, previously Sportsman. Previously a metal shopfront, the very plain replacement wooden structure offers no visual improvement. (Planning permission granted)
34 The Hundred, now Carphone Warehouse and previously Chas Smith. In the 2005 assessment, this shop was described as attractive. Both the Society and nearby shopkeepers complained to the Council about the poor quality of the Carphone Warehouse replacement. (No planning application was made)
16 Latimer Street now converted into two shops with a flat on the first floor was previously named ‘Thimbles’. This is an attractive rebuild. (Planning permission granted)
4 Church Street, a listed building, now Bojangles, was previously a delicatessen named ‘Number 4’. It has been carefully rebuilt in the original style with an additional door and pilasters. (Planning permission and LB consent granted)
10 The Hundred, Superdrug, a listed building, had been fitted with a new plastic internally illuminated fascia and hanging sign. A retrospective planning application was refused. The new fascia remains but is not illuminated at night.
37 The Hundred, a listed building, previously Bradford and Bingley and now Morris Dibben. Discreet signs had been replaced by strident yellow and black with an additional sign for good measure. (Neither planning consent nor LB consent had been requested)
8 Cornmarket, previously KJC now JAG had installed an unattractive plastic fascia and a new hanging sign complemented by a 5 ft-high plastic telephone outside the shop and an ‘A’ board outside Barclays. (Planning consent not requested)
11 Cornmarket, a listed building, had a change of fascia from ‘Forbuoys’ to ‘Martins’ which was no improvement. (Neither planning nor LB consent had been requested)

2.2. Notes on minor changes
27 minor changes were recorded, 17 of them to listed buildings. These are shown in a table at the end of this report.

    3. Conclusions

3.1. Of the five shopfronts which were rebuilt, three of them were successful and improved the streetscape. The change to 29 The Hundred (Ladbroke,fig.1) was neutral but for a small additional cost could have been made passably attractive (see fig.4). The change to 34 The Hundred (Carphone Warehouse, (fig.2)) was very much for the worse. It was carried out without planning permission and no effective action was taken by the Council after protests by local shopkeepers and the Society.

3.2. Three of the remaining significant changes were to listed buildings without permission from the Council. Their impact ranged from neutral to negative. The change to 8 Cornmarket (not listed) by JAG (fig3) has spoilt the appearance of what was noted in the 2004/5 Assessment Report as a very attractive shopfront.

3.3. There is concern that the 27 minor changes which have been carried out (13 to listed buildings) could have resulted in ugly plastic fascias replacing elegant hand painted ones. The character of Bell Street, for example, is much to do with the discreet presentation of specialist shops and this needs protection.

    4. Recommendations

The objective of the Society in carrying out shopfront assessments and audits was to provide data to the Council to act upon and progressively create a real improvement in the appearance of the town centre. However, having completed the first audit, there is a strong feeling in the team that all we are doing is monitoring change to no purpose.

Our view is that if the auditing process is to be productive, the Council needs to assume additional powers as have other Councils who have something worthwhile to protect. Hence there are two recommendations:

• The Society needs to discuss with the Council methods of extending control over changes to buildings in the town centre.
• If this is not possible, the Society should consider whether there is any value in continuing with audits.

Geoff Morris
January 2007

Figure 1 29 The Hundred Shopfront rebuilt, exchanging bland for bland

Figure 4 This modification (provided courtesy of Rod Hoyle) shows how the addition of some traditional features, costing a few hundred pounds and a more sensible colour scheme, would have improved Ladbrokes shown in Figure 1 above.

Figure 2 34 The Hundred was described as an attractive shopfront in the initial assessment when occupied by Chas. Smith. Now, the new plastic fascia is out of line with its neighbour; the capitals at the top of the pilasters and the blind have been removed to create a brash shopfront.

Figure 3 8 The Cornmarket This once pretty shop has been spoiled by a vulgar plastic fascia, a new plastic hanging sign and banner. JAG's 5ft high plastic telephone, placed outside the shop, has been removed by Highways.

    Table of Minor changes

TOP Shopfronts Audits