Wetherspoon hopes to end £1m pub row

Bosses of pub chain JD Wetherspoon today said they were hopeful of resolving a wrangle over plans for a new £1 million pub in Shrewsbury.

The firm wants to build a new pub in a unit of the town’s Pride Hill Shopping Centre. The move would create about 40 jobs and its plans have been approved by Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council’s development control and environmental protection committee.

But the approval is subject to the signing of a Section 106 legal agreement which has caused problems as councillors want this to include stringent conditions which the firm does not agree with.

Yesterday it was revealed that SABC solicitors are recommending councillors either accept the plans without a Section 106 agreement as the conditions members want are “unreasonable” or refuse them with sustainable reasons.

Wetherspoon had disagreed with conditions which councillors wanted including for its staff to clean the streets up to 50 metres from the entrance and for the pub to link its proposed private CCTV system to SABC’s town centre system.Earlier this month Wetherspoon bosses said they were considering appealing, but today a spokesman said no appeal had yet been lodged.

The firm is in talks with the council and is hopeful of resolving it but said further action could be taken.

A spokesman said: “Wetherspoon is trying to discuss the situation with the council and is still hopeful of resolving the situation.

“If we can’t resolve it then we as a company would need to look to resubmit a new application or appeal the existing decision.”

The council’s senior solicitor Christopher Gordon has warned the development control committee the conditions are “unreasonable” and should be considered as part of a premises licence application.

In a report to the committee which meets on Tuesday he recommended councillors should give their approval with the conditions previously approved but without a Section 106 agreement or refuse it giving “sustainable reasons”.