What’s going on with the old antiques shop?

A sudden burst of work has been taking place at the old Cottage Antiques shop on Wanstead High Street, the building which is tucked away, almost out of sight, and which seems somehow to have been overlooked from a previous era.

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On Monday trees were cleared from the front, and on Tuesday, hoardings went up, causing alarm in some parts.

The building has not been used as an antiques shop for some years, and was sold recently. The new owner has applied to Redbridge Council for permission to demolish the single storey buildings at the front, side and rear of the cottage. In their place he wants to build a new two-storey extension at the side and convert it into two new homes. As part of the work, he plans internal and external repairs, including replacement of windows with timber sash frames.cottageplanning

Planning permission has not, at the time of writing, been granted (or at least Redbridge’s online records do not state that it has). [See update below] Though clearly old, it is not one of Redbridge’s “locally listed” buildings.

The application can be viewed at the Redbridge website under reference number  0420/15/01

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The site as featured by Google Streetview in July 2014

UPDATE: Thanks to Robespierre who has found the links to the original planning permission which was approved in April this year, and which imposed certain conditions on the scheme, including that the materials used for the external surfaces of the extension should match the existing building, and that trees on the site should be protected.

13 thoughts on “What’s going on with the old antiques shop?”

  1. daresay it will soon be demolished like the cottages further up the high street. LBR need to get involved. thought this was a listed building? it should be.

  2. I think this a good use of the space & not an eyesore like some of the currenr proposals for buildings in Wanstead. I don’t see why it should be listed – you can’t do anything useful with it in its current state anyway. I’m all for preservation & pleased to see the windows are being replaced with double glazed WOOD sash windows. Just wish I could afford one of the houses once they’re complete!

  3. If there is no planning permission why are trees being taken down and work commenced? I don’t have a problem with the proposal in principle but perhaps our Councillors would make a comment.

  4. Consent granted in April this year.

    Very thorough historical assessment by the developer and looks like a decent scheme that we shouldn’t be concerned about.

  5. Looks like a sympathetic renovation with minimal extension to side and rear. The antique shop was looking pretty antique itself (and not in the good way) so shouldn’t be overly mourned.

  9. A while ago when I was looking at planning applications on Redbridge’s website, there was a good deal about this, including a report from English Heritage. I think you will find that these are indeed listed, and the renovations were to be done within the laid down restrictions.

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