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THE CHALK GARDEN
SUNDAY 27 MAY
By Enid Bagnold
25 May – 16 June cft.org.uk
Issue: 107
Chichester Post ISSN 2397-8732
ChichesterPost Your FREE weekly independent newspaper
Friday, May 18, 2018
Bigger cafe is sign of times in city centre BY KELLY WICKHAM kelly.wickham@sussexpost.co.uk COUNCILLORS have agreed to permit the extension of a popular cafe chain in the city centre despite the shop breaching limits on sizing. Pret A Manger in East Street currently occupies the ground floor of 82 East Street and the first floors of both 81 and 82. The ground floor of 81 East Street, previously Pia, is currently vacant. Councillors agreed to permit the proposal despite the submitted plans breaching planning policy limits on nonretail shop use. According to policy 27 of the local plan, shop frontage for non-retail shops must not exceed 25 per cent in the four main shopping streets, but Pret A Manager exceeds this with its new extension. The counter-serve chain for readymade sandwiches, breakfast, coffee, soups and salads had requested a change in use from Class A1 to mixed A1/A3 use. Class A1 is for shops and retail outlets and Class A3 for food and drink. The new extension would exceed policy 27 by 0.2 per cent. Cllr Richard Plowman objected to the proposal. He said: "The policy is there so
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we can have a variety of shops and other types of retail within Chichester itself. "City centres are suffering and from a lack of retail in terms of shops. "It was very upsetting to hear a lady saying she used to come to Chichester because of the shops but she no longer comes to Chichester because the variety of shops all seem to be these cafés. I think she is right. "This 25 per cent is of the main streets, but you still have quite a lot of other cafés in the other streets. "Pret A Manger was originally an A1 use. They actually came as retail use. Very suddenly, it would appear we have a large number of covers upstairs. "I think it's a point of principle here. The small retail unit is a very useful unit in many respects because it adds to the variety and there shouldn't be a problem in re-letting that unit. "A small unit like that in one of the prime retailing units should actually be able to be re-let. "There is an objection here, certainly from the city council, on the basis of that we have a policy, we have got a circuit of cafes and every other shop tends to have a cafe at the back of it. Turn to page three
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