18/00132/FUL 18/00133/ADV

18 South Parade Oxford Oxfordshire OX2 7JN

18 March 2018

 Change of use from Hairdressers (Use Class A1) to Maths Tuition Centre (Use Class D1) and installation of replacement signage.  and

  Display of 1 x internally illuminated fascia sign and display of 1 x internally illuminated projecting box sign. 18 South Parade Oxford Oxfordshire OX2 7JN

These related applications look to change the Use Class of the site from A1 to D1. This entails the loss of a retail site within the Summertown District Centre designated District Shopping Frontage. In accordance with local planning practice this is to be allowed only in closely defined circumstances. The applicant claims that as the marketing of the site has not recently resulted in retail applicants this loss should be permitted. We suggest that before this regrettable loss is accepted there should be a more vigorous and longer effort to market the site to retailers.

The external signage proposed for the new use as a Mathnasium Tuition Centre appears unduly large, using the extent of the two glass frontage windows and the glass front door as an unrestricted canvas for their multi-coloured scatters of overlapping numbers and a smiling child. The internal illuminated signage proposed is difficult to interpret but if in style it is closely related to the external signage it would probably also be excessive and garish.