Planning Permission Goes To Appeal
Coxley Developments Limited, the owner of the Amulet theatre building in Shepton Mallet, has submitted an appeal to overturn an earlier planning refusal for conversion of the Amulet’s stage and dressing rooms into flats.
We intend to oppose this planning appeal because it would mean the permanent loss of Shepton Mallet’s only large scale performance venue. There are many other empty buildings which could be converted for residential use but there are no other buildings with the potential of the Amulet; which could be easily reopened to provide us with much needed community space and to reinvigorate the town centre.
We also welcomed the recent decision by Somerset Council on a related application, that the gym, which is currently operating within the main auditorium and stage area of the building, had failed to meet the criteria for an automatic change of planning use of that space. Had this been allowed, the change would have then facilitated the conversion of that space to flats, without full planning scrutiny.