Worcester Select and Save set to be demolished has been saved, new plans reveal

A shop which is set to be demolished to make way for flats has been saved, new plans reveal.

Community convenience store Select and Save on the corner of Barbourne Walk and Pitchcroft Lane had been earmarked for demolition to be replaced with 11 flats earlier this year.

The news left shop owner Rozia Hussain, who has run Select and Save for a number of years, shocked and devastated.

In an objection sent to the council, she said she did not know the shop would be demolished until reading the story in the Worcester News and was “very hurt” by the plans.

Hundreds of neighbours spoke out against the plan saying the shop was much-loved and there was no need to close it down.

Following the outcry, developers William and Jessica Burton have since scrapped plans to get rid of the shop and now plan to build the flats around it.

In a statement alongside the application, they said: “We have chosen to redesign the scheme because we want to take on the comments raised. Our intention has always been to provide a sustainable development that will bring good design, much needed housing and regeneration to the area.

“We do not want this to come at the cost of any amenity to the local residents.”

The new plans now show six flats above the shop in a three-storey building as well as three maisonettes.

Three car parking spaces would be provided for the maisonettes but no spaces would be included for the six flats above the shop.

The developers said they expect those living in the flats to cycle or use public transport.

Worcestershire County Council’s highways department said the plan should be refused as it did not provide the minimum of 17 spaces and the developer’s claim that “ample on-street parking” could be used was “not acceptable.”

Emails between the county council and the developers show there could be a chance the shop is saved if different plans were submitted including fewer apartments and more parking spaces.

More than 60 objections were submitted against the plan including a petition that received more than 250 signatures.

Barbourne Riverside Residents’ Association had objected to the original plan saying the flats would make parking even worse in the area and there was no need to close the shop.