Council want more proof old village shop is not wanted
PROOF is needed that a village shop is no longer wanted before it can be converted into a home, councillors have said.
Plans to convert an old post office in Brampton into a home have been refused by Huntingdonshire District Council.
The building in the High Street was last used as a card shop, which closed down last year.
Proposals were put forward by Pauline Shaw to convert the building into a home.
However, planning officers at the district council said the applicant had not “effectively and robustly marketed” the building to show there was no demand to re-open a shop.
They said this needed to be done to show there was no likely prospect of a shop re-opening before the permanent loss of a shop by converting it into a home could be allowed.
The applicant pointed out that new commercial spaces had been built in the village and offered alternative options for new shops to open.
They added that they did not feel their application had been given a “fair assessment”.
The proposals were considered by councillors at a development management committee meeting this week (May 20).
Councillors agreed they could not approve the change of the building to a home without proof no one wanted to run a shop from the building.
Councillor Shariqa Mokbul said the decision was “simple” in her opinion, because the marketing had not been done to show no one wanted to open a shop she could not support the plans.
Councillor Douglas Dew said he agreed with this and said: “The answer is actually in front of the applicant, if they can prove there is no market for it, then the answer is after a year they come back and they will get their permission, because they will have provided the proof that the officers have not got at the moment.”