9 November 2011
Cotswolds MP, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, today welcomed the exciting news that Cotswold District Council has approved an application, made with the strong support of Mr Clifton-Brown, to build a new village shop in Blockley.
An award winning shop and café has been run in Blockley for nearly three years and currently has an annual turnover of around £500,000 per year. The shop is owned by a co-operative with 580 members and is run by a professional Manager and a Management Committee consisting of volunteers who bring a wide range of skills and experience to the project and employs 17 local staff and supports numerous local suppliers, bringing over £100,000 a year in wages into the village.
The lease on the shop’s current premises runs out in 2013 and the Management Committee submitted an application to build a new shop within Blockley in May.
The new premises will eradicate the shop’s tenancy problems and reduce their overheads substantially. The plans for this new shop will incorporate green technology, use local materials and enhance the conservation area in which it will be built.
Cotswold District Council’s Planning Officer recommended that the application be rejected in his Report, however, the matter came before the District Council’s Planning Committee who overturned the Officer’s recommendation and decided to approve the application.
Commenting on the decision of Cotswold District Council, Mr Clifton-Brown stated: “I am absolutely delighted that the application by the Blockley Village Shop’s Management Committee to build a new shop has been permitted by Cotswold District Council.”
“I have been very much involved in this matter since I first visited the shop in February and, indeed, I was there only last Friday and met with the Management Committee to discuss this matter.”
“I have lobbied the Council and its Councillors hard on this application and I am glad that they have decided to reject the recommendations of the Planning Officer and grant planning permission.”
“The shop plays an enormous role in the local community, it is a wonderful example of the Big Society in action, and I have no doubt that the members of the Planning Committee were swayed by the enormous local support the shop has. The Council received over 600 submissions in support of the application with virtually none against, and I commend them for the decision they have made.”
“The challenge now for the Management Committee is to raise the necessary several hundred thousand pounds required to build the new shop and I stand by ready to assist in any way I can, whether they make an application for lottery funding or look at other means of sourcing finance.”
Photo: Members of the Blockley Village Shop Management Committee and supporters of the shop
An award winning shop and café has been run in Blockley for nearly three years and currently has an annual turnover of around £500,000 per year. The shop is owned by a co-operative with 580 members and is run by a professional Manager and a Management Committee consisting of volunteers who bring a wide range of skills and experience to the project and employs 17 local staff and supports numerous local suppliers, bringing over £100,000 a year in wages into the village.
The lease on the shop’s current premises runs out in 2013 and the Management Committee submitted an application to build a new shop within Blockley in May.
The new premises will eradicate the shop’s tenancy problems and reduce their overheads substantially. The plans for this new shop will incorporate green technology, use local materials and enhance the conservation area in which it will be built.
Cotswold District Council’s Planning Officer recommended that the application be rejected in his Report, however, the matter came before the District Council’s Planning Committee who overturned the Officer’s recommendation and decided to approve the application.
Commenting on the decision of Cotswold District Council, Mr Clifton-Brown stated: “I am absolutely delighted that the application by the Blockley Village Shop’s Management Committee to build a new shop has been permitted by Cotswold District Council.”
“I have been very much involved in this matter since I first visited the shop in February and, indeed, I was there only last Friday and met with the Management Committee to discuss this matter.”
“I have lobbied the Council and its Councillors hard on this application and I am glad that they have decided to reject the recommendations of the Planning Officer and grant planning permission.”
“The shop plays an enormous role in the local community, it is a wonderful example of the Big Society in action, and I have no doubt that the members of the Planning Committee were swayed by the enormous local support the shop has. The Council received over 600 submissions in support of the application with virtually none against, and I commend them for the decision they have made.”
“The challenge now for the Management Committee is to raise the necessary several hundred thousand pounds required to build the new shop and I stand by ready to assist in any way I can, whether they make an application for lottery funding or look at other means of sourcing finance.”
Photo: Members of the Blockley Village Shop Management Committee and supporters of the shop
