Co-op store plan on site of old pub
THE PUB COLLAPSED LAST YEAR AND HAD TO BE BULLDOZED
PLANS have gone in to turn a former pub into a Co-op store and flats after the building dramatically collapsed.
The old Blacks Head Inn, at Upper Tean near Uttoxeter, had to be bulldozed after the gable end crumbled onto the pavement last September.
At the time, planning permission was in place to change the use of the 19th century pub and extend it to create a new Co-op store and four flats. The pub car park was also due to be used by shoppers and people living in the new apartments.
A revised application will now be discussed by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s planning committee on Thursday, May 12. It covers the rebuilding of the demolished pub, which is already underway and so would require retrospective approval.
But neighbouring residents claim the plan is not in keeping with the local conservation area. They have also raised more concerns, saying the development is now having an impact on their light and privacy.
Bev Reardon, from Old Road, is one of the villagers to submit a response to the latest planning application. She said: “The height of this building is way over the original roof height of the Blacks Head pub.
“It dwarfs my property and there are windows from this building directly opposite the windows of my house. The building dwarfs my neighbours’ gardens in High Street, and blocks sunlight, leaving their gardens in permanent shadow.”
Another Old Road resident, Michelle Johnson, raised similar concerns.
She said: “It now overpowers my back garden and will affect natural light coming into my kitchen and bedroom windows.”
A report to the planning committee says the possible impact on nearby properties was assessed as part of the original application. The conclusion was it ‘would not lead to any significant loss of light or privacy.’
But the latest plans have raised fresh issues over where the air conditioning and chillers would be located for the food store. The council’s environmental health team is assessing what impact this will have on noise levels.
The committee is being recommended to approve the new application, providing there is no lastminute objection from environmental health.
The Co-op is relocating from its existing High Street premises to the new site, where it would take up the ground floor. Above the store, three of the flats would each have two bedrooms, and the fourth would have one bedroom.
Checkley Parish Council said it supported the relocation of the Co-op, but is calling for a controlled pedestrian crossing in New Road. It has also flagged up residents’ concerns about the impact on nearby terrace properties.
The report, drawn up by the district’s planning officers, states: “The rebuilding of the former pub part of the scheme would replicate the former building. There is still considered to be a need for an improved food or convenience store for the village and, due to the recent change in the five-year housing land supply situation, there is now a greater need to allow the flats above.”