Plans to relocate village post office

photo

Plans to enable the Post Office to relocate to a new purpose built building and secure its future have been submitted to Cheshire East Council.

Bluemantle have applied for permission to convert a property on West Street into a retail unit for the Post Office which will be DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant, with level access for customers and staff.

The plan is to replace four numbered parking spaces, primarily used by occupiers of the offices above, and infill the area below the existing 1st and 2nd floor offices to create additional floor space. As you can see from the photo above, the right hand side is already filled in and the plan is to fill in the space where the blue car is parked.

The future of the village Post Office has been an ongoing issue since May 2009. Bluemantle, the landlords, have been working with the Post Office since that time to retain the service in the village.

During the past couple of years considerable time and effort has been put into finding someone to take over the Post Office. Although at least six parties initially expressed an interest, they all dropped out during the process and until Interim Enterprises took over Bluemantle did not receive rent for two years.

In February the Co-operative confirmed they had expressed an interest in taking over this vital service but they changed their mind about operating the Post Office in August. Interim Enterprises have been running the village Post Office for nearly six months and have considerable experience running post offices around the country.

Both Interim Enterprises and Post Office Ltd have confirmed their support of this proposed move, which it is hoped will make the service sustainable in the long term.

Mary Stewart, of Interim Enterprises, said "Bluemantle has been extremely supportive throughout this whole process and we are looking forward to moving into the bright, new DDA compliant premises and providing a Post Office in Alderley Edge long term."

In August 2011, Julian Cartlidge from Post Office Ltd wrote "A property search has shown that there are no other available premises in Alderley Edge that are capable of housing a financially viable Post Office business. Unless a site is quickly found that could viably accommodate the service, it is likely that Post Office services will be lost in Alderley Edge for a considerable amount of time.

"Your proposal to create a new unit at 10 West Street in the current car park would, on the lease terms indicated, provide a solution and Post Office Ltd would have no hesitation on accepting applications for the vacancy at this location."

Bluemantle has submitted a parallel application to change the use of 45 London Road from A1 retail to A3/A4 restaurant and bar. Provided plans go ahead to relocate the Post Office on West Street, the Bubble Room are hoping to expand into the next door building.

The Bubble Room submitted an application to expand into the adjacent building in August 2010, but later withdrew it because they didn't wish to proceed with an extension until the relocation of the Post Office was confirmed.

The Mason family, owners of The Bubble Room, told me "Now that a potential site has been identified for the relocation of the Post Office, we are keen to progress the extension of The Bubble Room and therefore, have agreed to our landlord making an application for change of use on 45 London Road on our behalf. We see it as an exciting opportunity to extend our business.

"We initially made a planning application over 18 months ago when it was first understood that the Post Office was to relocate within the village. However, when it appeared the relocation was in doubt we withdrew our application in order to give time for our landlord, in conjunction with the Post Office, to find an alternative site.

"We are one of the few independent locally owned restaurant businesses in the village. We are planning a comprehensive refurbishment of the premises and are keen to create an attractive unit in this important area of the village."

The planning applications for the West Street retail unit (reference 11/4082M) and to expand the Bubble Room (11/4333M) can be viewed on the Cheshire East Council planning portal.

Tags:
Bluemantle, Planning Applications, Post Office, The Bubble Room
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Gill Robinson
Tuesday 20th December 2011 at 5:16 pm
I hope this succeeds, as we need the Post Office to find a permanent location. It has been depressing to go into its sadly rundown current premises, and most frustrating to experience extremely poor service on one of the busiest posting days of the year - last Saturday. I joined a long queue just after 12 noon, and was surprised to find that there was only one person serving at the counter! Customers arriving after me were turned away, as they were unlikely to reach the front of the queue before 12.30 when the Post Office systems shuts down apparently. Imagine my irritation to hear from my son-in-law that, the same morning in an equally busy post office in Bramhall, sherry and mince pies were being served. Interim Enterprises please note!
Alan R Davies
Wednesday 21st December 2011 at 11:12 am
I might be missing something, but I don't really see much cause for celebration here. This no doubt looks like a good business proposition for Bluemantle, who will convert parking spaces into a property from which they will presumably enjoy good rental income, while getting a new tenant for the current Post Office premises.

However, a retail operation in this location would undoubtedly fail if it did not have the captive market of the Post Office business which would have no option other than to walk down to the end of West Street. Furthermore, there is only a tiny pavement in front of the premises, which cannot be reached without crossing either West Street or the car park entrance. Interim Enterprises are quoted as referring to "new DDA complaint premises". I know that shoud read "compliant", but it sounds like a Freudian slip! (thanks for pointing out my typo, now corrected. Lisa)

It seems that more suitable premises keep slipping away. The current Oxfam bookshop would have been fine, or one of the supermarkets. However, it seems obvious to everyone that it is going to be difficult for the village to sustain 3 supermarkets in the long term, so none of them is going to be too keen to make that investment. Is it too much to hope that suitable premises can yet be found on London Road, thus giving both the Post Office business and the village a much-needed boost?