PLANS to demolish a shop in Petersfield's High Street have brought strong protests from the town's leading watchdog group. And this week The Petersfield Society has written voicing its objections to East Hampshire District Council. Members are concerned about plans to pull down Meon Valley Travel, which, although not a listed building, stands close to other protected buildings. The proposal is to replace it with a three-storey building providing space for the travel agency on the ground floor and office space for the specialist repatriation department above it. Committee member Vincent Edberg said the main reasons for the protest were the overdevelopment of the site within the sensitive central conservation area of Petersfield, and also the adverse impact the bulk would have on the adjacent listed buildings. Commenting for the society, Mr Edberg, who is an architect, said: "The design statement submitted claims that the existing building is of little or no architectural or historical interest. This would appear to be partly true although the society are aware that there are old timbers remaining internally from earlier buildings, and the value of these ought to be assessed before any alterations take place." He said the society appreciated that an effort had been made to fit the design into the street scene, but the scheme was a "lost opportunity to create an architectural statement of greater significance and merit". And he added: "This is clearly not the best site for experimental architecture, but the proposed low-key retro "Victorian" approach is of no particular interest, but perhaps unobtrusive." Mr Edberg has told district council planners: "The most disturbing aspect of the proposed design is, however, the outrageous bulk building to the rear, rising virtually to three storeys along the respective boundary lines. This impression is furthermore emphasised by two elevations completely without window openings and a third elevation with very few." He said the scheme appeared to be guided purely by the desire to create the maximum internal space. The Petersfield Society believed, said Mr Edberg, that an improved frontage was not a good enough reason for permitting overdevelopment of the site behind the facade at the front. "There is every reason for protecting central Petersfield from this type of excessive construction work," he added. "This represents a piecemeal approach to increasing density without duly considering the locality as a whole." Petersfield town councillors last week said they had no objection to the plan, which they believed could actually enhance the street scene. The decision on the scheme will be made by EHDC.
