An application has been made to Richmond Council to turn the ground floor and basement of the former Old Kings Head public house to a mixed use community cycle hub comprising a café, training area  and treatment room/medical, and 1No. 1-bedroom apartment.

The application document asks for "alterations and conversion of the first and second floors to replace existing staff accommodation with 3No. 2-bedroom apartments.

"External Alterations to include the replacement of French doors with balconies and a roof terrace on the first floor western and southern elevations, the installation of 2 no. conservation-style rooflights on the southern and western roof slopes and a bike enclosure to the rear at ground floor."

The proposed site plan (Image via planning application)

An application to make similar use of the site by the same architecture company  was previously submitted to the council in July 2022, but was refused due to matters regarding materials, external lighting, and recycling and refuse arrangements.

Thus, Michael Conoley Associates has made amendments to the new application.

The application document reads: "The alterations to the roof tiles are modest and comprise the removal and addition of rooflights.

"As a result, the existing tiles will be carefully removed and re-laid around the areas of alteration. In the unlikely event that additional roof tiles are required these should be recycled / reclaimed tiles that are coloured to match the existing roof tiles.

"No changes are required to the hanging tiles on the dormers but if there are broken tiles that need to be replaced as part of the works these should be done with reclaimed tiles to match existing. The new external doors and gates will be wooden.

"The previous reference to composite has been deleted from the specification."

When discussing amendments to external lighting, the document says: "Three wall mounted luminaires, mounted at 1800mm from ground level each with a 2700k LED 5w lamp are proposed.

"These are now proposed as recessed light sources which are downward firing. The luminaires focus a narrow beam of light to reduce the light spill outside the development boundary.

"The lighting assessment has been carried out with all three luminaires operating at the same time and have a luminaire maintenance factor of 1.00.

"Using an exaggerated maintenance factor does not factor lens grime or LED deterioration which would occur overtime, so the isolux contour lines are 'day one' meaning this is the worst case that they can show.

"As a result of the change of luminaire the light spill is much reduced and the mature tree in the SSSI close to WL03 is no longer within the 2 lux contour zone.

"The 0.2 lux contour line extends to roughly the position of the existing boundary wall. Given that the luminaire is fired downwards and when the height of the existing boundary wall is taken into consideration, it is fair to conclude that there will be no impact on the tree whatsoever.

"The lighting consultant would recommend not using a PIR controlled light for the unit which is one the main road elevation, as it would be activated with each passing motor vehicle or pedestrian.

"The road is lit with adoptable street lighting currently so this light may not be considered to be required in any case. This will be confirmed on site.

"It is confirmed that no external lighting is proposed to the balcony. Pilkington Optifloat Tint (grey) or similar low transmission glass will be used on the south side elevation to mitigate the impact of artificial lighting on bats.

"Pilkington Optifloat Tint will be used on the outer pane of glass unit to prevent glare with a low-e pane such as Pilkington K Glass for thermal insulation on the inner pane.

Amendments made to the recycling and refuse arrangements include: "A note has also been added confirming that keys for the gate and bin stores (if any) will need to be provided to the Council's collectors to give them free access to the bins."

Richmond Council is yet to make a decision on this application.