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Jun 2024
Plans approved to convert Studley Royal toilets into refreshment kiosk
A planning application to convert a toilet block in the grounds of Studley Royal Park into a food and drink kiosk has been approved.
An officer at North Yorkshire Council granted the application, which was lodged by the National Trust in August, last Tuesday (June 4).
According to the design and access statement submitted in support of the plans, the existing toilet block located in the deer park car park was constructed in the 19th century and is now “underused”.
It comprises visitor toilets for males and females as well as a disabled toilet.
As part of the development, part of the existing toilet block would be retained, with the rest converted into the kiosk.
The document says the purpose of the development is:
Many visitors to the park are local and may still want to be able to obtain refreshments without having to enter the pay-for-entry area. It is therefore intended to repurpose part of the underused toilet block building in the car park as a refreshment kiosk.
The development means one set of toilets will be lost, but the statement says these would be replaced and their “overall provision enhanced” should the Studley Revealed Project plans be approved.
An existing window will be removed and a new opening with timber shutters is to be created to form an “accessible” serving hatch.
The document adds:
In summary the proposed alterations include amending the north elevation by using the existing double doors as access to an ordering counter point for the kiosk, with a new vertically boarded partition to kiosk counter.
External concrete steps will be replaced, while a former storeroom will become the staff kitchen, with two new storerooms and a cleaner’s store also formed.
There will also be a new bin area, three 'Sheffield cycle hoops' and timber knee rails to replace logs.
A new paving area will be laid at the front of the kiosk, the design and access statement adds.
The ground floor plans. Credit: Woodhall Planning and Conservation.
'An alternative for those who do not wish to buy a ticket'
After the National Trust submitted the major £3.5m improvement plans last August – which would see a new accessible café, admission point and toilets built – questions were raised about it only being accessible to those willing to pay to enter the grounds.
The Stray Ferret contacted the National Trust about the approved plans and what this means for the wider Studley Revealed Project.
A spokesperson said:
We submitted applications for planning permission and listed building consent for the Studley Revealed Scheme to North Yorkshire Council in August 2023. A decision has not yet been made on this application.
At the same time, we submitted a separate, but concurrent application to repurpose part of the underused toilet block building in the Deer Park car park, to create a refreshment kiosk.
The public toilets in the car park are retained and around half the building would become the new kiosk.
This kiosk would be created as an alternative for those visitors who aren’t National Trust members and do not wish to buy a ticket to visit Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, or who may just want to have a walk in the Deer Park.
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