Plans to open a Greggs in one of the world\u2019s \u201ccoolest\u201d high streets have been withdrawn after hundreds of objections.<\/p>\n
The national chain had planned to take over the former Boots chemist in Northdown Road, Cliftonville, according to plans submitted to Thanet District Council.<\/p>\n
The former Boots in Cliftonville. Picture: Google<\/p>\n
However, in the face of mounting criticism, the firm has made the as-yet unexplained decision to pull the proposals.<\/p>\n
News of the opening sparked a petition started by Jodie Ellena-Lindley, a co-owner of Cliffs coffee shop in Northdown Road.<\/p>\n
Within weeks, she had received support from more than 600 people.<\/p>\n
She argued big chains can \u201cundercut prices\u201d and \u201csurvive losses\u201d, which the independent shops in Cliftonville would not be able to.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur local traders can\u2019t compete with that. If this goes ahead, we risk empty shops, lost livelihoods, and the slow erosion of everything that makes our high street unique,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Greggs\u00a0has opened in Swanley, creating 15 jobs for the area. Picture: Greggs\/Stockgoogle<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce independents are gone, they\u2019re gone for good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanet District Council must stand with local people, not big corporations. We need them to protect small businesses, defend local jobs, and preserve the heart and soul of our town.\u201d<\/p>\n
The withdrawal means the unit will for now remain vacant \u2013 as it has done for the past two years since Boots left.<\/p>\n
It is not yet clear if Greggs will reapply in any capacity, having committed to a flurry of new openings in the past year.<\/p>\n
Deal, Swanley, Folkestone, Sevenoaks and Dartford all saw branches open recently, while Whitstable prepares to welcome its first-ever Greggs later this year.<\/p>\n
With a total of 55 already open or expected to open, Greggs even surpasses McDonald\u2019s, which operates 45 restaurants across the county.<\/p>\n
The first-ever Bitesize Greggs opened at Sevenoaks railway station. Picture: Greggs<\/p>\n
Cliftonville has a proud reputation for its commitment to its independent businesses, and the coastal area of Margate is often praised for its \u201cedgy feel\u201d.<\/p>\n
Northdown Road – the main route through Cliftonville \u2013 is one of Kent\u2019s most deprived areas, and connects the neighbourhood to Margate town centre.<\/p>\n
But it has been likened to hipster hotspots in East London by Time Out, which rated it one of the \u201ccoolest\u201d high streets in the world.<\/p>\n
It said: \u201cThe area fell on hard times in the 1980s and has been making a slow-and-steady comeback ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, it has an edgy feel not unlike a street you\u2019d find in East London (there\u2019s good reason Margate\u2019s been dubbed Shoreditch-by-the-sea).\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plans to open a Greggs in one of the world\u2019s \u201ccoolest\u201d high streets have been withdrawn after hundreds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,2082,219332,609,495,1510,16,15],"class_list":["post-782381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-consumer","tag-eat-shop-drink","tag-human-interest","tag-kent","tag-thanet","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116116586968614713","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782381","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=782381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}