A LANDLORD in Worcester has defended plans to build a new convenience store on the site of his pub which have sparked traffic concerns from surrounding residents.
Proposals have been submitted to Worcester City Council to create a Co-Operative store on Goodrest Tavern’s 58 space car park in Barker Street.
This could see the loss of 26 parking spaces, which has triggered an angry response from some residents who fear increased traffic and make the area an “unpleasant” place to live.
However, Bill Salmon, landlord of the pub, said he believed the new store would be a “fantastic” asset to the community.
“I have got a huge car park which prior to the drink driving laws was used to its capacity, but now is a waste of space apart from when we have got large functions on,” he said.
“The pub has been here for 70 years, but because we’re not on the beaten track, even people who have lived in Worcester all their life still don’t know this pub exists, so anything which is going to draw people to the area will hopefully have a knock-on effect for myself.”
His comments come after Samantha Clark and Roger Morris, both of Belmont Street, sent in letters of objection to the city council.
Mrs Clark said: “I am very concerned that this will increase traffic to this quiet, residential area. There are two schools in the area and the risk of an accident is obviously going to be increased.
“The area wouldn’t benefit from another store so close to these existing ones, and add to the expected traffic, the noise and inconvenience of delivery lorries attempting access, and you are actually making the whole area more unpleasant for local residents.”
Mr Morris added: “The cooperative would take up all the parking spaces on the front of the Goodrest leaving only 15 parking spaces at the side of the building for clients of the Goodrest. This would create major problems when the Goodrest invites the general public to hold events at the premises.”
However, Glen Dipple, of Vigornia Avenue, said the store was “just what the area needed”, while a spokesman for New River Retail, which is behind the plans, revealed the development would create up to 20 new jobs.
He added: “Given the land available, both the new store and the existing pub can co-exist extremely well, in fact it is our belief that the added attraction to this site will have a positive impact on the pub.”
