Brent Knoll Parish Council has unveiled formal plans to build a permanent community shop in the centre of the village.
The planning application covers the demolition of an existing public toilets block adjacent to Brent Knoll Parish Hall in Brent Street to make way for a new community shop with new public toilets, and the removal of the current Portakabin which houses the temporary shop unit.
“The new community shop – which will replace a temporary Portakabin in the adjoining village green car park – will be used for the display and retail of general groceries, newspapers, fresh meat and vegetables, and alcohol,” says a Parish Council spokesperson.
“The new building will also accommodate two unisex accessible WCs to replace the public toilets and a store.”
The car park and current public toilets building is owned and managed by the parish council.
The Brent Knoll Community Shop was founded in March 2020 following the closure of Brent Knoll Post Office with the aim of providing villagers with essential groceries.
It initially traded from the former post office but had to relocate into a Portakabin following the sale of the property.
Planning permission was granted for the Portakabin in December 2021 for a temporary period of three years until 31st January 2024.
The shop is currently run by around 27 part-time volunteers. The shop is managed by a community benefit society with 140 shareholding members and a committee of eight elected members.
The parish council adds: “It is well supported by residents and any profits made by the shop are used for the benefit of the local community.”
“The proposal to retain a village store satisfies Sedgemoor District Council Plan Policy D35 that seeks to support the needs of communities through the enhancement and retention of local services and facilities.”
“The policy recognises that the loss of a service in rural settlements may mean a total
loss to the local community, thereby resulting in the need to travel for basic services.”
“It requires the location of community facilities to be centrally located within the
communities they serve and easily accessible by walking, cycling and public
transport.”
“The construction of a new permanent shop in the centre of the village makes it easily
accessible by walking and cycling. A limited bus service links Brent Knoll to Burnham-On-Sea, Cheddar and surrounding villages.”
“The shop is a community run ‘not for profit’ enterprise providing essential supplies for the residents of the village. The proposal therefore meets the requirements of Policies S2 and D35 of the Local Plan.”
“The building is set back 9m from the edge of the road and directly faces nos. 111 and 113 Brent Street (Grade II listed). The separation distances between these residential properties and the shop is 28m and 30m respectively. It is considered the residential amenity of these properties will be unaffected at this distance. The proposal is therefore compliant with policies D2 and D25 of the Local Plan.”
Full planning permission is being sought by the council and consultation on the application, which has reference number 07/22/00023, is under way by Sedgemoor District Council‘s planning department with comments welcome before November 3rd, 2022.
