And so it proved, with patients ultimately thwarting efforts to shut down their dentist in the Close, in Norwich, even though council officials supported the controversial move.

More than 20 patients registered with Cotman House Dental Surgery crammed in to a planning meeting at City Hall this week to make their case to councillors to keep the site open.

The surgery operates on the upper ground floor of the building, near Norwich Cathedral, and landlord Dean Shields had sought to end the lease of Jonathan Frost, who runs it, so the floor could be turned into a three-bedroom flat.

Hoards of patients were in attendance for the emotional meeting (Image: Steve Adams)

Planning officials had backed the proposal, but the councillors were ultimately swayed by the patients' persuasive power, as more than 20 of them spent almost an hour and a half speaking out against it at the meeting.

The proposal had already generated 100 letters of objection, although planning officers had recommended the scheme be approved, saying there were two commercial alternatives for patients within 800 metres of the site.

They also argued that returning the Grade-II listed property - that once served as the home and drawing school of celebrated landscape painter John Sell Cotman -  to residential use was beneficial for the long-term future of the building.

John Sell Cotman (1782–1842) was a renowned English painter who once lived in Norwich (Image: Wiki Commons)

But at the meeting, the patients highlighted the unique and irreplaceable nature of Mr Frost's work, arguing it could not be replicated at another commercial practice.

The dental surgery has been operating at the site for 23 years and has developed a reputation for handling elderly and vulnerable patients and those with complex needs.

Mr Frost himself said that one patient, who has a heart condition, would be at risk of death if she lost the complex treatment he was able to provide.

“On learning of the threat to the practice, she said she would not, or could not, go anywhere else. 

“This is likely to precipitate her death. So if we go, so does she.”

Mr Frost also told the meeting he had "actively" tried to renew his lease and strongly denied Mr Shields' claims that he had been looking to relocate his practice anyway.

One mother told councillors her daughter was once unable to enter a dentist, but is now able to receive treatment thanks to Mr Frost.

“You cannot simply move a child with complex needs to another dentist and expect that trust to transfer," she said.

Another 79-year-old patient said he risked jaw dislocation during dental work without specialist care.

"I will not find alternative care in the surrounding area, whether that is 800 yards or 80 miles away," he said. 

Another said: “The thought of leaving Cotman House, and with it the professional care, support and kindness of Jonathan and his team, is too devastating to contemplate."

Many also pointed to East Anglia's reputation as the “Sahara of dental deserts” - a term first coined by health secretary Wes Streeting in 2024.

Health secretary Wes Streeting (Image: Peter Byrne / Press Association)

One speaker said that shutting Cotman House would be the equivalent of “adding the Gobi” to the region's predicament. 

Another added that Mr Frost “provides an oasis in that desert”.

The applicant, Mr Shields, drew sharp criticism from the speakers, who accused him of wanting to turn the site into an Airbnb rather than a family home.

Mike Sands said it was "extraordinary" that the application was seeking to dislodge so many patients (Image: Eleanor Storey)

However, after hearing the pleas of the patients - often met with loud applause - Norwich city councillors questioned why the application had been brought to committee in the first place.

Labour member Mike Sands said: “It seems extraordinary - truly extraordinary - that we have an application before us seeking to remove a dental practice that serves not only a large number of private patients, but NHS patients too.

“And it is not just any dental practice. We have heard today that this is a surgery providing exceptional specialist care, housed in a listed building whose very atmosphere and environment engenders confidence in the patients who attend.

“We have demonstrated clearly, both in planning terms and in social terms, the need to retain this practice. I believe the argument has been well and truly won.”

Councillors voted to refuse the plans unanimously.  

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