Chinese cookery school scheme set for the chop

Drawings submitted to Sheffield Council show a three-storey extension to the Canton Orchard restaurant in Fulwood Road, Ranmoor, Sheffield, to include a training kitchen and accommodation.

In a report to be considered by councillors tomorrow, officers describe the restaurant as an “attractive building from the Arts and Crafts period” and voice concern about the extension’s impact.

There are also worries about the effect of the new building on surrounding mature trees and on the character of the area, which is made up mainly of large houses in “spacious grounds”.

The architects behind the project say the lowest storey of the building will be “dug” into the ground, and that the school would share an existing car park provided for the restaurant. It is estimated that the development would provide 30 jobs.

But in their assessment, planning officers will tell councillors: “The proposed development would be set forward of the existing building line and would be considerably higher that the buildings it would replace.

“It is considered that the proposed development, by reason of its siting, scale and massing would have a harmful impact on the Ranmoor Conservation Area.”

Officers also say the existing building has been identified as part of the Ranmoor conservation area as a “good example of a late Victorian villa” which could be damaged by the plan.