Resident objects to tattoo studio plans for conservation area
A tattoo studio has been given the green light in a county town– but one nearby resident has said it is not the type of business that should be opened in a Conservation Area.
The shop unit in Eccleshall High Street dates back more than 200 years and is currently empty.
It could soon be welcoming customers through the door once more however after Stafford Borough Council approved plans for a change of use to a tattoo studio, meaning Eccleshall residents who want to get inked will no longer need to travel out of town or call in a mobile tattoo artist.
But one High Street resident said: “My husband and I do not feel that a tattoo parlour will contribute anything positive to the surrounding shops that are at the heart of the rural country town that is Eccleshall.
“As you will be aware Eccleshall High Street is also a designated Conservation Area and we don’t feel that this type of business is applicable in this setting.”
Eccleshall Parish Council has raised no objections to the plans but said that any work to the frontage of the building was expected to be in line with requirements of the Conservation Area.
A heritage statement submitted as part of the application said the only external changes needed were “painting the two bay windows on the ground floor in a neutral grey colour, painting the side door on the east elevation in a neutral grey colour to match the bay windows (and) like-for-like repainting of the white render on the ground floor as part of the maintenance of the building.”
The Eccleshall Conservation Area was designated in 1969, in recognition of historic buildings relating to the town’s importance as a staging post along the London to Chester Road.
The heritage statement said: “This is evidenced by the presence of coaching inns, most of which are located along High Street which was formerly part of the Chester to London route. The number of historic coaching inns and shops which have remained within these uses conveys the feel of a busy market town.
“Within the conservation area there are a mixture of style and ages including Victorian timber, smaller Victorian fronted cottages adjacent to taller two storey shops.
“High Street remains a well-preserved attractive street. The wealth of Georgian and Victorian buildings lining High Street forms an inviting introduction to Eccleshall and emphasise the former wealth and rich history of the village.”
