PLANS for a riverside "piazza" scheme with two restaurants have been rejected.

While councillors welcomed the chance to transform a derelict site in the city centre, they refused the application because of the "poor design" of a proposed gatehouse in Crane Street which would allow access to the site for deliveries.

The scheme in Avon Row – the riverside walkway behind New Look that links Fisherton Street and Crane Street – involves a vacant unit to the south of the former Woolworth’s building plus the former Allied Garden Centre building.

The two restaurants would have a total of 315 seats, 64 of which would be in an outdoor seating area, or piazza.

At Thursday's Southern Area Planning Committee meeting, residents living nearby spoke against the plans with fears over the loss of a tranquil space, increased traffic problems on Crane Street and noise, saying the "amphitheatre design" would "amplify noise".

One resident, Dan O'Boyle, said: "This is a very unique part of the city where people can sit in a quiet area and watch the river, the ducks and swans.

"I feel with large restaurants there and coachloads of people coming through, we are going to lose the fabric of this community and a quaint area of the city that can never be turned back because once this is developed, it's gone."

Regarding the proposed gatehouse, he said: "Crane Street is already crowded as it is and traffic gets backed up behind delivery lorries there - this is going to be a nightmare as lorries come and go."

Cllr Ian Tomes agreed, saying it would be "very difficult" to manoeuvre lorries into the site and that "lots of people" walked by the river and sat there, reading, having coffee and eating their sandwiches.

However, overall, councillors supported the plans for the two restaurants, submitted by developer, Threadneedle Property Investments, with councillor Chris Devine describing it as "something Salisbury is crying out for".

He said: "The Woolworths site is all a bit of mess now and for somebody to come along and say they are going to invest in this site is wonderful.

"To have this design and location is marvellous for Salisbury, it can't do anything more than promote the city in the eye of the world.

"It is modern, it is a retro throwback to art deco, it is a throwback to the fifties and jump to the sixties in modern architecture.

"Somebody on this committee, and I've been on it for 14 years, once said 'you can shout and scream til you're blue in the face, you won't get any development in Salisbury', and sometimes I think they're right but on this occasion, I would really like to see this go through."

And chairman of the Southern Area Planning Committee, Fred Westmoreland, said: "It is different to virtually anything else in Salisbury and I don't believe that is necessarily a bad thing.

"I've always believed that river front was a missed opportunity.

"This might work with the conditions - it could become a comfortable place to sit and enjoy watching the river go by. There are precious few places where you can do that, apart from The Mill."

Councillors voted against the scheme though because of concerns over the replacement building for 98 Crane Street which will be demolished under the proposals.

Cllr Richard Clewer said: "We should, as a city, be making more use of the rivers, they're a huge asset but the main problem with this is 98 Crane Street which currently is quite nice and fits in well.

"This [proposed] pretence of a house with a giant door in the middle isn't Salisbury. If you want a entrance, put in an entrance, put a gate, don't put a house facade with a gate in the middle pretending it's not."

Cllr Brian Dalton said: "My concern is turning off Crane Street with a 7.5 tonne lorry, I wouldn't even want to drive a car through there."

And councillor Ian West called the access via the gatehouse "absolutely crazy", saying a listed wall next door would be "down within a month".

Six councillors voted to refuse the application on the grounds of the design of the Crane Street gatehouse, with one in favour and one abstention.