Plan to convert ‘large’ empty retail unit on Scarborough's Castle Road into flats

KG Services (Yorkshire) Ltd has applied to convert a vacant shop at 20 Castle Road into a residential property.

The large ground floor retail premises previously purchased and sold second-hand gold, silver, jewellery, and mobile devices.

If approved, the “non-traditional shop front”, which is in poor condition would be replaced with bay windows to form “a continuance of the bays to the upper floor”.

The application states that it would “provide an opportunity to enhance the appearance of the building and consequently this part of the public realm”.

“The provision of private access ensures that the new flats do not infringe upon the existing amenity,” it adds.

The three-storey Victorian terraced property “is akin to many of the Castle Road buildings and has a modern shop front extension at ground floor level”, a council report states.

The same applicant, Konrad Gehrk of KG Service Ltd, was given permission to convert the upper floors of the property into residential flats two years ago.

At the time, the retail space was also divided to form two separate commercial units.

While the application is still pending with the planning authority, the council’s residential regulation manager has reviewed the plan and said he had “no objections to the proposals on housing grounds”.

The plan states: “The flat conversion scheme is fairly modest and therefore it is not envisaged that on-street parking availability in this location would become overly pressurised.”

The council has not set a date for a decision on the plan which is open to public representations.