Convenience store plans for second Widnes pub

Owners of a Widnes pub have announced plans to turn it into a corner shop.

Innavision Group, which owns the Blundell Arms in Hale Road, have applied for permission to convert the building into a convenience store, claiming there is “little chance” of it reopening as a pub.

In its application to Halton Council, published on 19 March, the company claimed the pub had been “vacant for approximately 10 months”.

However, the pub’s Facebook page suggests it was open as recently as August 2020 and it may only have closed due to the return of lockdown restrictions.

The Blundell Arms is the second Widnes pub where new owners have applied to convert it into a convenience store.

The Majors Arms in Millfield Road is the subject of a similar application, which also claimed it had been vacant for 10 months despite evidence showing it was open much more recently.

The owners of both the Blundell Arms and the Majors Arms have used the same planning agent to handle their applications – St Helens-based MAT Design.

Both applications also use the exact same words to support their plans, saying in both cases that the pub “has been vacant for approximately 10 months and there is little chance of it reopening for its lawful use”.

Both applications also add: “The site is in a highly sustainable location for local people and would provide an excellent opportunity to purchase convenience goods without the need to travel by car.”

The owners of another Halton pub, the Devonshire in Runcorn, have also recently applied to convert the premises into flats.

That application claimed the pub had been vacant since 2019, but manager Tracey McHarg insisted that it had never been vacant and had only closed because of pandemic restrictions.

Members of the public are able to comment on Innavision Group’s plans for the Blundell Arms until April 8, and Halton Council aims to make a decision on the proposal by May 9.