Pharmacy may have to undo refurbishment work (From The Oxford Times)

Pharmacy may have to undo refurbishment work

1:00pm Saturday 19th January 2013 in News

A SHOP could be forced to reinstate two bays windows after a retrospective planning application was refused.

Lloyds Pharmacy in Bicester was given a revamp late last year and was officially reopened on December 5 by model and presenter Nell McAndrew.

Originally the shop had two timber and glass bay windows, but both were removed and replaced with full-length windows before planning permission was granted.

The Sheep Street shop is not a listed building but is within a conservation area and there are other listed buildings nearby.

The windows were not the building’s original and were in a relatively poor state of repair, the planning report said.

But a Heritage Statement, supplied with the application, said the windows “contribute significantly to the conservation area and are an integral part of the vista down through Sheep Street to the former Kings Head public house”.

In a report, Cherwell District Council’s planning officer Graham Wyatt said: “It is considered that the new shop front, by virtue of its design and use of full height glazing, fails to respect the character and appearance of the historic building and would have a significant detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the area.”

Lloyds Pharmacy now has six months to appeal against the decision, come up with new plans, or return the windows to their original condition.

A company spokesman said last night it would lodge an appeal.