Costa, Mountain Warehouse and Pets At Home among big-name stores in frame for Bridgnorth development

Costa, Peacocks, Mountain Warehouse, Pets At Home and Poundstretcher are in talks with developer Zirlan Land Limited. The company wants to build five shop units on the site of the Old Smithfield car park in Bridgnorth.

But Bridgnorth Chamber of Commerce, which is opposed to the scheme on grounds that it would reduce car parking spaces, launched a petition against the plans which has attracted more than 7,000 signatures.

If the proposals are approved it would mean a loss of 120 bays at the site which currently had 278 spaces.

The bid, initially given the green light by Shropshire Council, was aired at a four-day public inquiry held at Shirehall, in Shrewsbury, this week after Secretary of State Sajid Javid decided to call in the plans.

At the hearing barrister Satnam Cheung, on behalf of Ziran, put to the chamber’s planning consultant Duncan McCallum that in addition to the new stores the site would get “a modern car park, well lit with CCTV coverage”.

Mr McCallum replied that there were concerns about who would manage the car park.

He said: “My understanding is that the scheme is unacceptable on the basis that the application has not demonstrated that it is acceptable. Among the wider chamber members there is objection to the loss of car parking on that scale in the town centre and the impact on traders, which is one of the many aspects of this case.”

The developer said changes to car park operations in the town such as the introduction of a three-hour limit would free up spaces.

Chris Hawley, on behalf of the county council, told the hearing that High Street names such as Costa represented a “significant opportunity” for millions of pounds’ worth of investment in Bridgnorth.

Speaking after the hearing the chamber’s chairman Steve Robbins said: “The list of retailers lined up for the units is disappointing. I do not mean to be disrespectful to those businesses, but I wouldn’t say they were top of the list for what shoppers desire.

“We are concerned for our members and all the traders in the town who do not have the opportunity on Saturdays, our main trading day, to have customers parking right outside their front doors which is what these companies will get if this scheme is allowed to go ahead.”

“It is the case that this inquiry has cost the chamber tens of thousands of pounds. We have exhausted our funds in order to get to this stage and people have very generously assisted us so far. We are still running our Save Old Smithfield collection and folks can contribute via various shops.”

The outcome of the inquiry will be announced in the coming weeks.