Plans to rebuild cycle shop to go before council

Firefighters tackle the serious fire at the Cycle King shop on Angel Hill in Bury St Edmunds in September 2017 Picture: ANDY ABBOTT (Image: Archant)

Cycle King, on Angel Hill in the town, was gutted by the blaze on September 29, 2017, which also damaged neighbouring buildings The One Bull pub and Francela restaurant.

The blaze, which was attended by more than 60 firefighters, caused £1.6million worth of damage in total.

A structural investigation determined that the historic building would require a complete rebuild.

Cycle King has operated out of a temporary home at Chamberlyne Road on the Moreton Hall estate since the incident.

The aftermath of the serious fire at Cycle King in Bury St Edmunds in September 2017 Picture: ANDY ABBOTT (Image: Archant)

Proposals for a ground floor retail unit and four flats on the first and second floor at 26 Angel Hill will now go before St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s development control committee on Thursday, January 3.

In the application, architectural and building surveyors Munday and Cramer said the circumstances presented an opportunity to make better use of the available land at the site.

The surveyors said it was also a chance to “address the somewhat out of character design of the original building in context to the important street scene of a historical area of Bury St Edmunds”.

Specialist manufacturers have also been approached to recommend products to most closely reflect those used on the existing building.

Cycle King has been operating from a temporary home on Moreton Hall Picture: ANDY ABBOTT (Image: Archant)

But neighbouring pub The One Bull, which did not reopen until January 2018 following the blaze, has objected to the plans.

Evolution Town Planning, on behalf of One Bull owners David and Roxanne Marjoram, raised concerns about the flats overlooking the pub’s private roof garden.

Concerns were also voiced over the bin store being close to an area where food is prepared. The pub said the bin store should be “enclosed in a permanent structure”

The plans for the rebuild are recommended for approval.

The scene as firefighters tackled the blaze Picture: ANDY ABBOTT (Image: Archant)

Two men accused of starting the fire both denied arson at Ipswich Crown Court in September.

Ashley Finley, 24, of Borley Cresent, Elmswell, and Dysney Sibbons, 23, of Elmsett Close, Stowmarket, are due to stand trial in March.