
A fast-food takeaway outlet in the heart of the Isle of Wight’s county town could be converted into a convenience store.
Citing ‘trading problems’, Mrs M Emmakulata lodged a change of use application with County Hall to convert ‘Fry Nation’ at 84 – 85 High Street into ‘Family Shopper’, a retail outlet which is part of the Tesco group.
The new establishment would serve the ‘large residential estate to the west side of Newport’, a submitted Design and Access Statement said.
A Planning Statement included in Mrs Emmakulata’s application said:
“The proposal is to convert the existing fast-food outlet into a convenience store to serve the surrounding area including the High Street.
“This proposal will increase economic activity for the benefit of the Island. The convenience store will offer a wide range of products as indicated with the diagrammatic plan layout attached to this application.
“This proposal will lead to an increase in retail employment by this new investment into the site and will be to the benefit of the local community.”
A separate Heritage Statement said the plans would have ‘no direct effect’ on the property’s external appearance and ‘little to no impact’ on the ‘surrounding environment or setting of the street scene’.
County Hall’s public consultation on the application will end on March 28 and a decision is expected on April 24.