TESCO says it needs to consider its next step after again seeing plans for a village pub rebuffed by Northumberland planners.
Villagers have waged a bitter 16-month campaign against the grocery giant’s desire to extend Seaton Delaval’s Victoria and Albert pub ahead of turning it into an Express store.
And at a boisterous meeting of the south east area planning committee of Northumberland County Council, councillors again cited concerns than allowing changes that pre-empt conversion into a shop would ultimately lead to a death on the road outside.
Coun Tom Brechany said that the idea of delivery lorries having to pull into and out of the proposed loading area outside the store was “a recipe for disaster,” while Coun Wayne Daley said he and his fellow members had a “duty of care” to the people of Northumberland.
“I find it really offensive to see Tesco coming to us yet again in the hope it grinds us down,” he said. “It seems they hope we will get bored and let it through, but I’m not going to let that happen.”
In a fresh twist to the long running saga, councillors were shown a letter from the pub’s owners Punch Taverns, which backs the convenience store plans as the tavern might otherwise be shut.
“Tenants have been unable to derive any sustainable profit due to the very low levels of trade and high outgoings,” the company said. “And for Punch the inevitable alternative may be to close and board the property.”
But current manager Marshall Dunn rejected the claims, agreeing that when Tesco first looked to take over the Victoria and Albert it had been struggling, but in recent months business was booming.
“Before we took over, the pub was, as Tesco say, not a going concern,” he said. “But trade has more than trebled in the last 16 to 17 months and it’s now a real amenity for the village.”
An application for a 108 sq m extension to the pub was rejected on the grounds of road safety. A separate application for two air conditioning units and a condenser was rejected on the grounds it could be an eyesore and create a noise nuisance for nearby homes.
A spokesman for Tesco said: “We are disappointed by the decision, especially as the applications had a positive recommendation from the council’s own officers. We will now consider our options and decide on the way forward.”
But villager Stephen Keir, who has led the campaign to save the pub, said he hoped this might finally be the end of the saga. He said: “Hopefully we’ve now seen the back of this application that is clearly lacking any credibility.”
