Food shop plan for former Ellesmere bank – four years after it closed
A former Shropshire bank could be transformed into a food shop – four years after it closed its doors.
The former NatWest bank in Scotland Street, Ellesmere, could be turned into a grocery store, with room for cold food and drinks to be consumed on site.
The plans have been submitted by Phillippa Elms to Shropshire Council this week.
They will be determined in the coming weeks.
In her application, Ms Elms said the bank, which closed in November 2015, said vegetables and other staple items would be on sale.
She added: “It is proposed that the old NatWest bank be converted to a food store that additionally serves cold food which customers can purchase on the shop floor for consumption on site accompanied by a drink.
“The main trade will be the sale of food items for customers to prepare their own meals at home such as vegetables and other staple ingredients.
“Food prepared on site will be baked goods that will be cooled before being displayed to sell, there will no extraction requirement.
“Noise will take the form of customer conversation and low background music to create a relaxing ambience.”
She added that the business would encourage customers to bring their own containers to take food away in, rather than use plastic bags or packaging.
“The majority of waste will be in the form of packaging from the foodstuffs acquired from local suppliers for sale,” she said.
“The ethos is to be low impact so we are looking to minimise waste and the environmental impact and at selling items unpackaged, by weight, into containers customers bring with them to the premises or to use minimal packaging where necessary.”
She added: “There is a garage at the rear of the property in which the commercial bin will be kept.
“We are looking at opening from 9am to 8pm, seven days a week although this will be seasonal and we would like to be able to open until 10pm on special days.
“Due to the nature of the goods being sold, deliveries will be of low volume, high quality items.
“There is ample public parking within the town centre and we do not expect that the footfall of the development will exceed what there was when it was a bank.
“The proposed development should add another dimension to the local shopping area helping to bring additional people into the town to visit other local businesses.”
