A PLANNING application has been submitted for a Co-op store half a mile down the road from a business trading under the same banner.
On behalf of Central England Co-operative, developers Enabl have applied for permission to construct a Co-op store and car park at the site of the former Cranford care home on Warrington Road in Rainhill.
Although there is another Co-op on Warrington Road, close to Rainhill railway station, that is under the ownership of The Co-operative Group, which although is traded under the same banner, is an altogether different organisation.
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While another Co-op is located on the same stretch of road, the developers say that this is "not considered to cause a significant impact on the Co-operative Group's private investment".
The new Co-op, which is closer to Rainhill High and Rainhill Hall, will also "significantly reduce the distance between hundreds of homes, particularly in south Rainhill, [to] a retail store offering a sufficient range of fresh and essential produce", developers say.
The planning application also says that land, which is currently vacant following the bulldozing of Cranford care home, "does not contribute to social or economic value of the area".
Therefore, the developers believe that a new convenience store, with 16 car parking spaces, will "offer social, economic, and environmental benefits" to Rainhill, as well as providing 20 new jobs in the village.
Since the planning application was submitted, it has attracted mixed reviews on social media, with some residents sending in objections to the development.
One objector says: "This store in not needed in the area, [it is] only half a mile from the Co-op in the village. It is also too close to Jacks store [now Best One on Elgin Court] which has served the community for many years.
"There is more than enough traffic on Warrington Road already."
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