Beales plan in Bournemouth sparks concern over heritage

Plans to transform the building into 130 flats and commercial space were submitted to BCP Council earlier this month.

The proposal includes a gym and pool, as well as commercial business and service space.

Structural work would see the building extended to a total of 13 storeys when adding the current basement, lower ground, and upper ground floors, if approved.

Read more: Plans submitted to transform iconic Beales building into flats

There would also be a rooftop garden, 45 garden spaces and storage for 178 bikes.

But the plans have already received some feedback from organisations including Historic England and the Council for British Archaeology.

There have also been two comments from members of the public, and a response from Dorset Police.

Council for British Archaeology

The Council for British Archaeology said they were concerned the height and massing of the development would be out of scale with the conservation area.

They believe it could have a negative impact “particularly on the setting of nearby designated heritage assets”.

In their response they recommended developers reduce the height of the proposals to minimise the “negative impact”.

The Beales building is described in their response as “an architecturally and culturally significant architectural design dating from the 1950s”.

The area of Old Christchurch Road is a ‘historically sensitive area’, with Beales near nationally designated heritage assets including St Peter’s Church, the Arcade and Westover Mansions.

The CBA warns the proposed height of the building, if approved, could set an “unwelcome precedent” and would appear “overly large” in comparison to the church opposite.

Historic England

Historic England have also commented on the proposal’s height, saying adding bulk will exacerbate a challenge already presented by the existing building.

They add: “If there is a way that the wider public benefits offered by the proposals could be delivered in a way that reduces or perhaps avoids altogether the harm to the historic environment, it follows that the justification for the harm is neither clear nor convincing.”

Residents

One resident said: “This would be an absolute travesty. A complete ruination of a wonderful store.

“Instead of allowing the destruction of Beales, offer the right incentive to bring back a major retailer. As a resident of Bournemouth I would like to see decent shopping back in the town centre, not more apartments that will end up as investor units with transient tenants coming and going, bringing with them more litter, more noise, more illegal parking and more crime.

READ MORE: Empty Bournemouth shops attracting interest, says council chief

“BCP has already made too many exceptions to accommodate the university, resulting in a barricade of offensive buildings on the east side of town.

“Now to justify this kind of development, it is disguised as an attempt to rebalance the demographic in town. Except it will not have that effect. The only people to benefit from this would be the developers, who have no interest in Bournemouth other than profit. The long-term plan for Bournemouth, created some years ago, would never have allowed this, but for the fact that current councillors have modified the plan to suit their needs.

“If you really had the towns best interest at heart, you would be encouraging restoring and regenerating the many existing derelict buildings thus providing flats and shopping.

“To allow them to remain empty is an obvious ploy to justify demolition and the building of ugly unwanted sky scrapers. Bring back integrity to the town and to our council, and refuse this application.”

Another added: “The overall height is not in keeping with the rest of the area and will overshadow the town causing it to become to become less welcoming.

“The infrastructure isn’t sufficient for 130 dwellings.

Read more: The Beales story in the store's own pictures

“The roads aren’t suitable for an increase in traffic and pedestrian access would be in the middle of a busy town centre.

“There are only 45 parking spaces for 130 dwellings. There is insufficient provision for deliveries and removal vans etc.”

Dorset Police

John Green from Dorset Police said: “I will highlight that this is the centre of both the shopping centre and night time economy areas of the town, with a high passing footfall this raises the possibility of opportunist criminal activity.

“There is a high possibility that rough sleepers will try and work their way into the premises. I would encourage a great deal of attention be taken over access control methods for all communal doors, but also for internal demarcation to prevent an intruder having free access if they get inside the building.”