A RETIREMENT village has been granted permission for new advertisement signage and flagpoles.
Mount Battenhall, based on Battenhall Avenue, has been granted approval by Worcester City Council for the display of one V-mounted sign, one plate and post sign, and four flags and flagpoles.
The flags are considered necessary to advertise the sale of accommodation at the retirement home and not considered to be overly dominant or to have an impact on the setting or nearby listed buildings.
The case officer said the sighting of the signs “are not visually intrusive to the wider area and would not be seen to have a detrimental impact on the visual amenity of the area.”
Mount Battenhall describes itself as a “retirement village for the over 60s offering outstanding and luxurious spacious properties to buy or rent, surrounded by stunning landscaped Italianate gardens.”
It was named among Britain’s best last year by the Daily Mail.
The two Grade II listed buildings within the Battenhall Villas conservation area are The Stables and St Mary’s Convent School.
St Mary’s was a day school for girls aged 0-18 over the 15-acre campus. It closed operations at the end of the summer term in 2014 after 80 years, and had alumni such as playwright and actress Charlotte Jones and Helen Lewis, deputy editor of the New Statesman.
Mount Battenhall during its time as St Mary’s Convent (Image: WN Archive)
Following its closure, the site was bought in 2017 and transformed into 106 private homes and apartments for the retirement village.
The village also has lounge and bar facilities, a restaurant, library, hair and beauty salon, gym and crafts room.
Prior to becoming a girls’ school, the site was a hospital.
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Mount Battenhall has also received planning permission for the re-pollard of eight trees and the felling of a ninth.
This is a technique where the upper branches of a tree are removed to promote healthy growth.
The site has been granted permission to re-pollard eight lime trees, while cutting another lime tree down to ground level due to its poor quality.
The trees sit in a row of 10 limes on site, although the second has already been removed following storm damage.
The case officer said: “The proposed re‐pollarding is appropriate management for this group, helping to retain their amenity contribution while preventing excessive crown development in trees with limited structural capacity”
