Women behind new salon say Costa should stay

Delay over decision for Thatcham coffee shop is down to short-staffed council planning department

TWO business women in Thatcham have come out in support of a coffee shop, but West Berkshire Council still has not made a decision about whether it can stay open.

The owner and manager of a new hair salon said that the opening of Costa Coffee had increased the number of people in the town centre and this has helped their first month be a success.

Owner Amy McElhone, who set up Envy in the Kingsland Centre in April, said: “Costa has helped us.

“There is a different sort of clientèle, especially with Waitrose as well.

“We have been really busy. It has been fantastic.

“We get a lot of walk-ins and we have been nearly fully booked every day.”

However, Costa, also located in the Kingsland Centre, does not have planning permission to be there.

The franchise owner submitted an application for retrospective permission to West Berkshire Council in March, but this has yet to be validated by the planning department.

Council spokesman Phil Spray said that decisions for applications received towards the end of

March were due to be made at the start of the week.

However, Costa had not received an answer when the Newbury Weekly News went to press on Wednesday.

Mr Spray said that the delay was down to being short staffed.

He said: “This is because three vacant posts within the team that register planning applications were frozen in order to try to help with the challenging national and local financial situation.

“One further post-holder is on maternity leave and another post holder has been unwell.

“This has coincided with receiving a record number of planning applications, even more than pre-recession levels.”

He added: “The council has recognised the delay this has caused and the vacant posts are in the process of being filled.”

Previously, planners have turned down applications for cafés and takeaways despite numerous empty units in the town, because they wanted to encourage more shops to open and that there were too many non-retail businesses already.

However, there may have been a shift in thinking, as last month permission was granted for a restaurant, with retail space, for the former Threshers' unit.

Ms McElhone, and Envy manager Jody Galgey said that they hoped the council would see that Costa was good for the town and allow it to stay open.

The pair, who used to work together at another salon in Thatcham, said that they decided this was a good time to start up their own business, particularly as there were empty units in the town centre.