PLANNING chiefs at Warrington have given the go-ahead for the change of use of a retail shop to a hot food takeaway after being told it is in a part of the town centre that is “in decline.”
The present operator of the shop in Bridge Street, EHRM Ltd, which has traded from the site since 1997 and has decided not to renew the lease has told the borough council: “Over the years that we have been here, Bridge Street has turned from a busy retail area into a retail desert.
“That direction of movement was given a turbo boost by the extension of the Golden Square shopping centre.”
Members of the borough council’s planning committee were told that a number of other shops in the vicinity had been vacant for some time – the former Peacock’s for two years, The Tanning Shop, for a number of years, The Golden Chippie, two years and the Café Fresco, two years.
The committee was told a similar application was turned down by the council on the grounds it meant the loss of a retail unit, but the decision was overturned on appeal.
It was accepted that the change of use would result in a high concentration of non-retail uses in this part of Bridge Street but the proposed new use would at least ensure some footfall – albeit it mainly in the evening and early hours.
If the shop became vacant it was likely to remain so for some time.
