Discount shop plan for former bank approved

Plans for a branch of a discount store to be opened in a North Yorkshire town's former bank have been approved.

Councillors backed The Yorkshire Trading Company's plan to open a branch in the former Barclays Bank in Thirsk's Market Place at a meeting on Thursday.

Under the proposals, a new 5,860 sq ft (545 sq m) extension will also be constructed at the rear of the building, with two flats created on the first floor.

However, the proposal had been recommended for refusal by officers who said it could harm the local conservation area and have an overbearing impact on a nearby home.

Thirsk Town Council supported the redevelopment, but a spokesperson for Historic England said the organisation was worried the scheme would harm the local conservation area.

Before the planning meeting, North Yorkshire Council deputy leader Gareth Dadd said the scheme could provide "much-needed residential use".

Mr Dadd added the development would also create jobs and stop the building from becoming dilapidated.

"We're a thriving market town," he said.

"This is an opportunity we can't afford and shouldn't afford to miss."

Councillors also heard that the application had been modified following criticism of the scheme at a previous planning meeting, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Lindsay Burr said: "I don't think that the character of the conservation area will be hit by this really.

"I think it can only improve it and I think on balance the economic benefits are going to outweigh the other benefits."

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