THE RED frontage of a restaurant in Leamington has not proved to everyone’s taste.
Rosa’s Thai on Parade is seeking retrospective planning permission for painting its frontage a deep shade of red.
Both the conservation officer at Warwick District Council and Leamington Town Council have objected to the bold choice of paint colour due to conservation concerns.
But members of WDC’s planning committee have been recommended to grant the retrospective planning permission for the red frontage when they meet on Tuesday March 12 despite the objections.
Leamington Town Council has objected on the grounds “the proposed colour scheme is felt to be inappropriate and contrary to the Article 4 direction controlling the decoration of shops on the Parade”.
WDC’s conservation officer said in a report to be presented to the planning committee that while it is recognised that a similar colour is in place at 116 Parade, the application property is a taller building, which occupies a larger proportion of the facade, making it more prominent on Parade.
They consider that this section of Parade contains more muted colours in comparison to the proposed red frontage. They further note that the application property is considered to be located within a ‘different context’ to No.116.
Therefore, they consider the proposal to result in harm to the character and appearance of the conservation area and streetscene, which is not outweighed by any public benefits.
WDC planning officers disagree.
In their official documents to go before the committee, planning officers state they do not believe the deeper shade of red to be harmful to the conservation area and that no concerns were raised by the conservation officer at the time it was painted.
Planning officers added they do not consider the red shopfront to be materially dissimilar to 116 Parade to the extend that permission should be refused.
Rosa’s Thai has been approached for comment.
