Objections have been raised for plans to demolish Chester's Kirkton House, with Historic England saying the proposal would "cause harm" to the conservation area.

In June, developer Pure Residential and Commercial Ltd submitted plans to demolish three disused buildings on Hunter Street and replace them with a five-storey apartment block.

The city centre site, located opposite Storyhouse, would include 19 apartments and a single house, following demolition of the existing buildings.

If the plans are approved, Kirkton House, dating to around 1900, along with 4A and 4B Hunter Street, would be demolished.

Describing Kirkton House as a "surviving example of the late 19th century development of Hunter Street", Historic England said the building makes a "positive contribution" to both the history and character of the conservation area.

Whilst welcoming the "intention of bringing the site back into active use", it argued the council ought to give "great weight" to the conservation of the building.

Last month, Historic Buildings & Places argued the application should be withdrawn until an appropriate scheme that addresses conservation concerns is presented.

Whilst not wholly opposed to the scheme, it did not believe there was "sufficient evidence" that the building is "completely redundant and not capable of being adapted for a new use".

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A spokesperson said: "The claimed benefits of new housing and regeneration could be equally achieved with the retention, adaptation, and incorporation of Kirkton House into this wider scheme.

"Any redevelopment scheme should work with the building and conservation area rather than impose a large, modern building onto it."

For the council's Conservation and Design Team, the potential demolition of Kirkton House was described as an "erosion of the historic character" of Chester city centre.

In the original application, the applicant noted the three buildings were previously approved for demolition as part of earlier Northgate regeneration plans.

The conservation team highlighted this reference, highlighting it as something which "the current application heavily relies", despite the former plans as being part of a larger scheme where "public benefits were deemed to outweigh harm".

"The current application arrives in a completely different context and the previous permission to demolish is no longer relevant," the conservation officer added.

The application's lack of information on 4a Hunter Street other than a block plan was also noted, as the officer stated it "does not present a case to justify its demolition".

However, 4b Hunter Street was described as a "poor-quality modern building that detracts from the character" of the area, adding that its removal would have a "positive impact".

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As for the applicant's suggestion that the historic street has been "lost to over-sized modern development", the officer described the notion as "erroneous", claiming this would instead be the "likely result of this proposed development".

Conceding the proposed building for 4a Hunter Street has "some merit", the officer said the materials were "generic", and bear "no relation to its wider context".

They said: "We conclude that the proposed new buildings are likely to result in a moderate degree of harm to the character and appearance of Chester City Centre Conservation Area through erosion of the historic character of the street."

SAVE Britain's Heritage also wrote to "strongly" object the plans to demolish Kirkton House .

Conservation officer Lydia Franklin said they did not believe the application had proved "sufficient justification for the total demolition" of the site.

She said: "The applicant puts forward the length of disuse and deteriorating condition of the building as justification for its total loss, concluding that its demolition and replacement with housing would constitute "notable public benefit".

"We have not had sight of evidence that the reuse of Kirkton House for housing has been adequately considered as an option to achieve this same public benefit."

Responding to these objections, the developer said the "retrofitting of the existing Kirkton House is financially unviable".

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According to them, the redevelopment would be beneficial due to the use of a brownfield site in an urban sustainable location, "rather than redeveloping a useful, higher-quality building or a greenfield site located on the edge of the city".

It added: "The significance of the asset has been considered within the submitted Heritage Statement conducted by Henderson Heritage, which concludes that the loss of Kirkton House is insignificant when weighed against the benefits of the proposed scheme."

The proposed apartment building would include four one-bedroom apartments, 12 two-bedroom apartments and three three-bed apartments.

Alongside the apartment block, the plans include a separate three-storey, four-bedroom house with private amenity space and landscaping.

Proposals were previously redesigned following feedback received during pre-application consultations, with part of the building reduced from three storeys to two.

Planning officers at Cheshire West and Chester Council are yet to make a decision on the application. You can find the full plans here.