The Bay Horse 189 Moulsham Street Chelmsford CM2 0LG

1. 1.Reason 1 The site is located in an area designated in the Chelmsford Local Plan as a Primary Shopping Area and Secondary Frontage and Policies S12 and DM5 Part B relate to these areas. Moulsham Street is an important commercial area within the City. The proposed ground floor residential conversion of this site would be incompatible with the function of the Primary Shopping Area. The proposals would remove all activity from the front of the building, with the entrances to the units being located at the side and rear of the building. This would create an area of inactivity at the back edge of the pavement which is at odds with the surrounding area. The proposed Winter Gardens to units 13 and 14 would further result in a disconnect between the activity within the building and Moulsham Street. There would be a separation between any activity inside the building and Moulsham Street. This would be directly at odds with the historic use of this building, which has provided activity between its frontage and Moulsham Street for over 250 years. While the approved retail unit would contribute to the character of the street and reflect the adjacent land uses, the proposal for this to now comprise a residential unit would also undermine the vitality of the surrounding area. The proposed residential conversion of the ground floor of the building would detrimentally impact the Primary Shopping Area and would conflict with the aims of Chelmsford Local Plan Policies S12 and DM5. Reason 2 WEB PBCS090 25/01578/FUL REFULZ Paragraph 98 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that that planning policies should "guard against the unnecessary loss of valued facilities and services". Policy DM21 Part A states that "The change of use of premises or redevelopment of sites that provide valued community facilities or services will only be permitted where: i. The premises or site cannot be readily used or converted to any other community facility; and ii. The facility or service which will be lost will be adequately supplied or met by an existing or new facility in the locality or settlement concerned which shall be equivalent to or better than the facility that is being lost in terms of both quantity and quality. In relation to the loss of locally valued community facility that is commercial in nature, such as public houses, evidence will need to be submitted to demonstrate that the use is not economically viable and that it is no longer required to meet the needs of the community." The application documents do not provide information that the premises cannot be readily used or converted to any other community facility. No trading accounts have been submitted with the application and there is no information to demonstrate that the public house was not financially viable while it was open. The public house was closed in July 2023 and has remained shut since then. The marketing campaign undertaken is limited and does not comply with the requirements set out in the reasoned justification to Policy DM21. It does not demonstrate that the facility is inappropriate for alternative community uses or is surplus to requirements. In light of the above, the application documents do not provide adequate information to demonstrate that the change of use of the existing community facility would comply with the requirements of Policy DM21 and the proposal does not meet the objectives of the NPPF. Reason 3 Section 66(1) of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires that when considering planning applications for development that affects a listed building special regard shall be paid to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses. Section 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires that when considering planning applications for development within a Conservation Area special attention shall be paid

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

CM2 0LG

Application type

Full

Scale / size

Small

Validated

26 November 2025

Consultation expiry

9 January 2029

Consultation end

9 January 2029

Target decision date

21 January 2026

Statutory period

56 days

Planning Portal ID

PP-14352436

Documents

15