Former bargain retail outlet to be a restaurant

MOVE SHOWS CHANGING NATURE OF RETAIL, SAYS COUNCILLOR

AN EMPTY shop in Whitley Bay town centre will be brought back to life as a high-end restaurant and bar.

Plans to overhaul the old Poundstretcher in Park View were given the green light by North Tyneside Council planning bosses on Tuesday morning.

The vacant site will be split into two new venues – the Giraffe Lounge bar and a Mr Petit restaurant, which also has a branch in Newcastle city centre.

More than 40 residents wrote to the council in support of the plans, which would be one of the latest steps in Whitley Bay’s regeneration. The town’s famous Spanish City has recently reopened following a £10m revamp.

Planning committee chair Frank Lott said that the council needed to help drive more leisure opportunities to improve the vibrancy of it town centres, adding that applicant HT Leisure had approached this project in a “responsible manner”.

Coun Trish Brady said: “We have been concerned about the decline in town centres and this does offer something that will be valuable in the community in Whitley Bay given the regeneration efforts taking place there.” Whitley Bay ward councillor Sandra Graham said she would have preferred to see this part of Park View remain as a shopping area, but was supportive of the scheme.

Two residents had registered objections to the proposal over noise fears.

Labour councillor John O’Shea had also lodged an objection against the plans, but praised the developers for taking steps to allay residents’ fears.

HT Leisure won praise from the planning committee for its ‘long-haul’ commitment to the new ventures.

Coun David McMeekan said: “We have an obligation to encourage vibrant and successful town centres. This development does represent a significant change of use, but we have to recognise the changing nature of retail.”

Local democracy reporter