“Unsightly” and controversial ventilation units ruining one of the most iconic views in Britain are set to be moved.

The rooftop equipment was installed as part of a new medical school and science block at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) in the city’s North Holmes Road.

But the three-storey structure, which was approved in 2016 and completed four years later, came under fire in 2021 when a local historian said it had “destroyed” an important view of Canterbury Cathedral.

The world-famous landmark had been clearly visible from the grounds of St Martin’s Church - the oldest in Britain still in use and, like the Cathedral, a World Heritage Site.

However, CCCU built 10ft high plant and ventilation equipment on top of the £65 million STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) facility - known as the Verena Holmes Building - without planning permission.

Critics complained the plant was a blot on the skyline, with city historian Hubert Pragnell saying: “I do not exaggerate the significance of this view from one of our World Heritage Sites to another, depicted in paintings and photographs from the 19th century onwards.”

At Canterbury City Council’s (CCC) planning committee on April 2, members met to discuss the university’s application to relocate some of the offending equipment.

“We’ve been working with the university and with Historic England to ensure that the harm has been minimised as much as possible,” a planning officer explained to councillors.

Under the new application, two of the air conditioning units will be removed from the roof and relocated to ground level and one will be rotated and have a screen built in front of it.

Other units remaining on the roof will have more screening built around them.

Cllr Connie Nolan (Lab), the ward member for the area at CCC, told the committee: “The 2016 planning permission wasn’t given to the building as it stands now, and that’s the concern.”

The Barton representative said footage in a recent episode of Songs of Praise filmed at St Martin’s shows “quite clearly how at the moment the massification of the site and the ventilation plant detracts from that world heritage view”.

CCCU’s vice chancellor Professor Rama Thirunamachandran also attended the meeting.

“I’m genuinely sorry that this has happened,” he said.

“When it was first pointed out to me there was an issue with the massification of the plant on the roof, I phoned the then chief executive of the council to let him know the issue, but also to give a personal commitment that we will work with the council, Historic England and other stakeholders to ensure that the matter was resolved appropriately.”

Prof Thirunamachandran added that “due to the financial challenges of Covid” the third wing of the building has not yet been built.

He explained this had therefore “caused the massing of the plant” on the roof because the rest of the facility is yet to be constructed.

He says the building is “training students who will go out into the NHS workforce here and serve Canterbury and the wider public benefit”.

Cllr Paul Prentice (Lab) said the application was “far from perfect”, but that he supported it.

“It’s not easy to strike the balance between heritage and modernity but I think Christ Church has belatedly made that attempt to do so,” he said.

Cllr Keith Bothwell (Green), however, said the city “has been let down by this whole process”.

“The original planning approval didn’t seem to be appropriate looking back on it in terms of the scale of it,” he added.

“You can no longer see the roof of the Cathedral, which you did before the building was built.

Cllr David Thomas (Con) argued against the application, saying: “If this was a retrospective application on someone’s house I think we’d say take it down.”

Cllr Ian Stockley (Con) said the council should be “more conscious” of rooftop structures in “such a sensitive area”.

“I do think that what we’ve got in front of us is a vast improvement,” he added.

Cllr Harry McKenzie (Lab) accepted the units were necessary but said: “Obviously the plant on the roof is very unsightly and is at best not ideal in a World Heritage Site.”

A council officer stressed to members a lot of equipment is required and needs to be on the roof of the facility for it “to be able to function because it’s a medical building”.

She also explained the new screens to be built will all be made of timber and range from light wood colour to dark grey and that the changes “will greatly improve the view”.

The planning committee voted to approve the application with 10 votes in favour, two against and one abstention.

A spokesperson for CCCU said: “We will continue to work closely with Canterbury City Council and other key local stakeholders on the approved alterations of the air-handling units at the Verena Holmes Building which will take place next year.

“Work on the pedestrian pathway from St Martin’s will start within the next 12 months as part of our commitment to transform our Canterbury Campus with contemporary spaces for learning, teaching and research, whilst celebrating the city’s rich heritage.”