14 flats planned for St Albans city centre site

The initial consultation on 91 Victoria Street, which is currently home to Cotswold outdoor shop, began last week and will run until Friday, September 17.

The plan is to demolish the current building and replace it with seven one-bed and seven two-beds flats across four floors, plus a commercial unit. There is no parking provision included in the plans.

A CGI image of what's currently being proposed for the site, as seen from Victoria Street. (Image: Woolbro Morris)

Henry Lamprecht of the Community Communications Partnership, who are helping to promote the plans and collect feedback, said the current building wasn't fit for purpose.

"I’m afraid it’s pretty much reached the end of its life," he said. "It wasn’t constructed to last for hundreds of years like a church or a cathedral, it was a cheap construction at the time it was built. We are proposing to replace it with a building that looks very much like the one there to retain the local character – if that is what people want."

He described the proposed design as "very much in keeping with the Art Deco style of the current building", and said developer Woolbro Morris hoped "to do a lot of landscape work by planting trees and establishing small gardens".

A CGI of the proposed development, viewed from Upper Lattimore Road. (Image: Woolbro Morris)

He added: "This is the initial consultation to inform us on what people think of our ideas. We will then look at the feedback we get and make necessary amendments to the design before it is subjected to the formal consultation as part of the planning application. We really do need to hear from as many people as possible."

Anyone wishing to view the proposals put forward by Woolbro Morris can do so at https://victoriastreet.uk, where an online feedback form is available. Henry can also be contacted directly on henry@theccp.net.