Additional reporting by Freya Miller<\/p>\n
Shoppers say Greggs will be a welcome addition to a historic Kent high street – as long as it does not cause independent businesses to struggle.<\/p>\n
Some concerns had been raised that the arrival of the UK\u2019s largest bakery could detract from Whitstable\u2019s unique charm and character of the conservation area.<\/p>\n
A new Greggs is set to open in High Street, Whitstable, filling a hole left by the Eat 17 convenience store<\/p>\n
But most people KentOnline spoke to in the town centre this week were in support, with Greggs set to fill a derelict unit that has sat empty for five years.<\/p>\n
Canterbury City Council last week approved plans to change the front of the building, formerly home to Eat 17 convenience store.<\/p>\n
Roy Johnson, of Alan R Long Butchers nearby, is \u201cnot worried\u201d about Greggs making inroads into a high street traditionally dominated by independent shops.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is half for and half against, but Whitstable is so busy, so it won\u2019t affect local places as they\u2019re always full,\u201d the 48-year-old said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreggs is reasonably priced \u2013 it will be nice to see it open.\u201d<\/p>\n
Butcher Roy Johnson at Alan R Long says he is \u201cnot worried\u201d about the Greggs opening nearby in Whitstable<\/p>\n
Whitstable resident Annabelle Selwood, who supports the move, says it is \u201cimportant to have affordable food\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a quick place for people to go, and there needs to be balance,\u201d the 23-year-old said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is good there are still small businesses \u2013 I don\u2019t want them to be taken over.\u201d<\/p>\n
But staff at Hubbard\u2019s Bakery on the same street voiced concerns that the town\u2019s first-ever Greggs could siphon away trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not good as it is a chain,\u201d they said. \u201cTourists will go there as it is what they know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitstable resident Annabelle Selwood says it is \u201cimportant to have affordable food\u201d after plans for a new Greggs were approved<\/p>\n
Greggs, which has more than 2,600 outlets across the UK, will replace the entrance and put up new signage, while also installing air conditioning and extraction units in the back.<\/p>\n
On giving the scheme the green light, the city council\u2019s planning team said the proposals \u201crelate acceptably\u201d to the building, site context and character and appearance of the Whitstable Town Conservation Area.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the variation observed in the street-scene, it is considered the proposed signage would not appear cluttered or incongruous in this context,\u201d a planning officer said in official papers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNor would it detract from the character and appearance of the conservation area or character of the existing building.<\/p>\n
An example of Greggs\u2019 signage<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall-scale vinyls are also proposed for the front windows.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut given their limited size, they would not harm the vitality of the street scene or character and appearance of the conservation area.\u201d<\/p>\n
The planning chief\u2019s comments came despite three strong objections centring on five points, largely taking issue with the aesthetics.<\/p>\n
Opponents said Greggs would be an incongruous addition to the area.<\/p>\n
Not only did they raise concerns about Greggs\u2019 classic colour scheme, but the signage, they said, \u201cwill detract from the charm, character and historic nature of the high street\u201d.<\/p>\n
Situated a matter of metres away from Sainsbury\u2019s Local, the former Morrisons and Eat 17 convenience store was also part of Cain\u2019s Amusements portfolio up until October 2014.<\/p>\n
It was taken over by Spar a few years later and has sat empty since CJ\u2019s Discount Store packed up and departed in 2020.<\/p>\n
No date has yet been set for the opening of the new outlet.<\/p>\n
Greggs declined to comment when approached by KentOnline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Additional reporting by Freya Miller Shoppers say Greggs will be a welcome addition to a historic Kent high…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,495,12717,83509,16,15,15589],"class_list":{"0":"post-399399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-kent","10":"tag-planning","11":"tag-syndicate","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-whitstable"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115150529856205672","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}