Mosborough Co-op: Supermarket must be torn down after being built five feet too high

A near-complete supermarket constructed on the site of an old pub is to be torn down because it was built five feet higher than it was supposed to be.

The controversial store in Mosborough, built on the site of the former Royal Oak pub, will need to be ‘substantially’ altered after planning chiefs ruled developers made “unlawful” changes to its design.

Sheffield Council had allowed Bar 24 Ltd to build the shop on land where the Royal Oak pub had been pulled down without permission three years ago.

This demolition took place months after toxic waste had been illegally dumped on the site, with chemicals contaminating a neighbouring house.

But following an inspection, the council said the new building would need to be changed as there had been an “unacceptable reduction in design quality”.

A spokesperson said: “The building is being changed and altered following the concerns raised by the council.”

“Officers from Sheffield City Council have been working with the applicant with a view to addressing the issues laid out in the enforcement notice and they will continue to do so.

“If a planning application is submitted that is later approved, and the requirements of the enforcement notice are thereafter complied with, the notice would no longer be relevant and would be withdrawn.”

The council had faced calls to force the pub to be rebuilt before later agreeing that Bar 24 Ltd could construct a supermarket on the land.

And the new shop was due to open early this year before the inspection found the building did not match what had been agreed in its plans.

A council report published in January said it was 6.5m (21ft) tall rather than 5.1m (16ft) as had been set out in the proposal, which had an “unacceptable” impact on a neighbouring property

It also said the fascias were constructed with lower-quality composite cladding instead of the weathered larch or cedar shown on the approved plans.

The report also criticised the “poor workmanship” on the fascias and the unauthorised inclusion of a substation on the site.

And it said the developers had dropped almost all eco-friendly measures that had been agreed.

The report further listed 11 differences between drawings submitted with the planning application and what has actually been built.

A spokesperson from Bar 24 Ltd said it intended to submit a new planning application “shortly” for the site to address the council’s concerns.

They said: “The building is being changed and altered following the concerns raised by the council.”

A spokesperson for Central Co-op said they were awaiting the outcome of discussions between the developer and the council before moving forward.

They said: “With regard to the Mosborough site development, it is our understanding that there is a conversation happening between the developer and planners, and we are unable to move forward until a resolution is found.”