Ten months after the planning application was first submitted, the proposal to redevelop the Radco Co-operative store in Radstock is set to be determined by members at the B&NES Planning Committee on Wednesday, 23rd October.

The planning application proposes to ‘replace the existing outdated Radco store with a high-quality modern store that enhances the shopping experience for customers’. The proposals also include further retail units, office space and 28 apartments in two mixed-use buildings along Wells Road.

In addition, 26 new homes are proposed in Outline planning on part of the existing car park. Improvements will also be made to the public realm and landscaping throughout the site.

The office space will form a brand-new Head Office for Radstock Co-operative Society. The Society have been operating in Radstock for over 150 years, since 1868, and now manage nineteen convenience stores around Somerset, as well as the Radco store. Retaining a Co-op store on the site and accommodating a new Head Office has been critical to the proposals, as the Society seeks to retain the eighty existing jobs in the store and secure its legacy in the town for the future.

Following months of collaboration with B&NES Officers, the scheme has gone through several rounds of revision and consultation to address Officers’ comments.

The final revised proposals feature a more traditional appearance along Wells Road that takes inspiration from the town’s Victorian buildings, and will be built using local materials, including White Lias and Doulting Stone Ashlar. Additional planters have also been provided in the revised layout to enhance the town centre, following a meeting with representatives of Radstock in Bloom.

The final revised proposals have received local support and a recent petition gained over 1,000 signatures from Co-op customers and local residents. Westfield Parish Council has supported the development “wholeheartedly”, while Radstock Town Council offered a number of observations. 

Writing online, Don Morris, Radstock Co-operative Society’s CEO, said: “Our loyal customers who are familiar with the Radco building will be very aware of its poor condition and the dire need to replace it with a building that is far more suitable for modern day retailing and also of an appropriate quality to be the Head Office of the Radstock Co-operative Society.

“Those of you who visited the shop towards the end of last week will have witnessed the numerous buckets and containers that were carefully positioned on the shop floor to capture the rainwater that penetrated the flat roof!

“This is an ongoing battle, despite the continuous investment in repairs and maintenance.

“At the AGM, I regrettably informed members that Radco was the only one of our stores that had made a loss last year.

“You will appreciate that we cannot allow this to continue, and the only solution is to replace the store with a smaller, better designed building to ensure that we can remain on our home site.”

Recommending approval of the plans, council officers said: “The public benefits of the proposed development are clear and substantial. 

“The existing Radco building is of some age, and is understood to be beyond economical repair. The existing building has been identified for some time as causing harm to the conservation area. 

“The removal of the building will remove this harm and provide the opportunity to significantly improve the site and its surroundings. 

“Perhaps more significantly, the proposal provides the opportunity for Radstock Co-operative Society to remain in Radstock (both in terms of its headquarters and replacement store); the economic and social public benefits that this brings are significant. 

“Additional public benefits include the provision of a number of market dwellings in the centre of Radstock.” 

The existing Radco building stands a single storey high and dates back to 1959. 

Don Morris added: ‘‘I would like to thank our members, customers, colleagues, and local residents for their efforts and support of the planning proposal. The degree of support has been overwhelming and demonstrates the coming together of the various different stakeholders in the community, who appreciate what we are trying to achieve.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

“We look forward to presenting our plans and the benefits for the Radstock town centre at the committee meeting on Wednesday, 23rd October, which we hope will receive a positive response from committee members.”