The Big Gun (13-17 Wicker, S3 8HS), a pub with interior features of Special Heritage Interest, closed in September 2023. Recently, several months after building work commenced, a retrospective planning application was submitted to Sheffield City Council (SCC). Work completed includes the creation of a new shop front, the replacement of windows and the fitting of roller shutters.
The closing date for comments was 13th June. We commented, noting that the planning application has several errors and omissions. For example, the submitted ‘existing plans (ground floor)’ do not show (i) the internal wall which is perpendicular to the front external wall in the ‘Commercial Space’ and (ii) the possibly unique Victorian draught screen which is inside, to the right of the corner door. Both these features are on plans of the pub included in the Licensing File (Sheffield Archives) and were in place when the public house was last open to the public. As they are not included on the documents submitted as part of this planning application, we can hope that there is no intention to remove these, and other, heritage features.
The planning application also has no mention of potential ‘change of use.’ Hence, the assumption which has to be made is that the current owners intend to reopen as a public house. However, it seems that this is not the case.
Due to these errors, we have suggested that the application is withdrawn until all errors and omissions are rectified. We await decisions from SCC Planning.