Newport village shop plans focus on its cafe to secure future

A popular village shop and coffee house near Newport has lodged plans to focus its attention on operating as a cafe to secure its future.

The Sorting Rooms in Rhiwderin says that while its cafe is proving popular, it is struggling financially as a village shop.

Plans submitted to Newport City Council say it will be forced to close down if a change of use cannot be made.

“The Sorting Rooms is proving to be currently unviable as a business and unless the change of use to A3 can be confirmed, it will be forced to close down, resulting in the loss of an active local business, five local jobs and a valuable community facility,” a design and access statement says.

The proposals would see the current ground floor kitchen moved upstairs to a larger space, where it can be fitted with adequate equipment.

The external appearance of the building is also planned to be improved, with the whole building re-painted.

The business – once a Post Office – was bought by the current owner in May 2019 when it was “on the brink” of closing down completely.

But changing the focus to a cafe is now “essential for sustaining the financial viability of the business,” according to plans lodged.

“The romantic notion of having a local village shop that all the residents walk to and support by buying their conveniences from is unfortunately nothing more than an idealist fantasy in the modern world,” it says.

“Every resident of Rhiwderin has access to a vehicle of some sort and although a very small number of locals do support the shop, the vast majority of people now go to a larger chain supermarket and do the entirety of their shopping there.”

The shop will continue to sell some items, but the focus of the business will be on operating as a cafe.

But while a design and access statement claims there is public support for the plans, several residents and Graig Community Council have raised concerns.

The community council says the number of parking spaces in the area have been ‘overstated’ in the application – and that additional parking is “likely to cause congestion.”

“(The) council does try to support all local businesses as much as possible but has serious concerns regarding the proposed expansion of the business due to the potential parking issues,” it says.

Some concerns over “possible disturbance to residents during the evening” if opening hours are extended have also been raised.