Development opportunity

There is a rather odd shaped building at the bottom of West Hill, jammed up between what I believe used to be a builder's yard, the road and the railway. The gable of the Epsom end of the building is decorated with some painted plaster plaques, possibly giving the place some standing in the heritage stakes.

Over the years there have been a variety of tenants. A needleworker who carried a great deal of cloth and who, I think, specialised in soft furnishings. A ladies hairdresser. A gents hairdresser, the one I went to for many years. A brew your own beer emporium. A baker (not bad on cakes, but bread not too clever, fresh but largely free of taste and texture. The sort of bread which I associate with places in the far north). Various estate agents. A taxi operation. A drop in centre for the disabled. Niche activities on the first floor. Leases running out and presently at least two thirds empty.

And now it has been designated a development site. Phoning the left hand number given, this seems to mean that the owner of the freehold wants to move on and is trying to put a mainly residential package together with a developer, a package which will achieve the trick of getting through the planning hoops and making some money. It seems likely that the council will insist on retaining some retail action on the ground floor. Which given the difficulties of the town centre proper strikes me as wrong, at the very least, a mistake. The same mistake as was noticed at reference 1, a little way along the line.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/planners.html.