Second attempt for Sheffield leisure bid

Ant Marketing has adjusted its plans to develop a bar at Millennium Hall on Ecclesall Road, following refusal in 2023.

Advised by Urbana Town Planning, Ant Marketing applied to convert the Millennium Hall, built as part of the former Polish Club, to a bar. HEM Architects is the designer.

Ant is working on behalf of an as yet unnamed operator. Although the space was historically part of the Polish Club, in planning terms the application is for conversion from office space – an application that was successful in 2021, and the applicant now wishes to reverse.

Around 1.3m south of Sheffield city centre, the Millennium Hall formerly acted as the club’s function room, which included a bar and events room available for private hire.

The building was added in the 1960s to the Victorian buildings housing the other parts of the club, space that has recently been converted to apartments.

Key elements of the project are:

• Creation of new raised planting area and disabled access lift to the front
• Creation of bin store with green roof to the front
• Internal conversion of existing hall to bar
• New glazing and timber cladding to the front elevation

Four reasons were given for the refusal of the previous application: that the raised terrace/forecourt and planting would be out of scale in the neighbourhood; that there would be too much noise disturbance to residents; disabled access, which in the first application was to the rear; and the lack of a sequential test.

In the fresh application, Urbana argues that although the site is technically outside of the Ecclesall Road district centre, in reality it is part of that neighbourhood. As the planning statement outlines:

“it is considered that the true nature of the site’s interaction with Ecclesall Road and relationship with surrounding commercial uses must be given weight and ultimately that the site’s location just outside of the DSC should not be a decisive factor and reason for refusal in isolation”.

Both this site in its previous guise and the adjacent Lost & Found venue have in effect operated as part of the Ecclesall Road district centre for years, is the argument.

Addressing the noise issue, Urbana said that the main door has been moved to the other end of the building in the new plans, and bi-fold doors removed from the plans. Also removed from the new design is the “wall” of planting  planners previously found issue with, with a tiered design now suggested.

The plans have now been validated on Sheffield City Council’s planning portal, and can be viewed with the reference number 24/01153/FUL.