Health food retailer Grape Tree has been granted permission to open a new store at a Grade II-listed site in Whitby, with confirmation that the town's famous polar bear statue will be retained.
A health food retailer’s plan to open a new store in a North Yorkshire town has received the green light from the council.
The organic retailer Grape Tree has been given permission to refurbish and open a shop in Whitby at the Grade-II Listed site of a former Holland & Barrett store.
A full refurbishment and fit-out has been approved at the prominently located store at 1-2, Sandgate, Whitby, which features a famous polar bear statue.
Concerns were raised by Whitby Civic Society about the future of the statue – which commemorates a live bear cub brought to town in the early 1800s – and urged the company to retain the unusual feature.
An agent for the company confirmed that the polar bear would not be removed as part of the proposal.
Grape Tree describes itself as “the UK’s fastest growing name in healthier eating” and has more than 190 stores across the nation.
Some concerns were also raised about the visual impact of the scheme on the town’s conservation area.
North Yorkshire Council’s principal conservation officer said they had “no objection in principle to the proposals, but further amendments are required” and requested that the shopfront signs are “preferably painted lettering on timber fascias or applied metal lettering on the fascia board”.
The officer also recommended the “removal of ‘GT’ product imagery, using multiple images and colours, across full-height shopfronts”.
They added that “muted, heritage colour palettes that blend in rather than stand out would be more appropriate”.
Planners noted the recommendations and said that the proposed vinyl graphics had been reduced in size “through the accompanying advertisement consent to cover a smaller area”.
“Overall, the proposed repair works are considered acceptable and would preserve the listed building which has already been subject to some modernisation,” a report states.
Officers concluded that no historic fabric would be lost by the development “as the existing ground floor shop is an addition to the listed building and is not original”.
They added:
“Therefore, the development does not involve the loss of any significant historical or architectural features, and it is not considered that the proposed repair and refurbishment works would harm the architectural and historical integrity of the Grade II-listed site”.
The application was approved by North Yorkshire Council, subject to conditions.
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