A SHOP which has been empty for eleven years in Tavistock will not be turned into a restaurant, planners have decided.
Members of West Devon Borough Council's planning committee last week voted against the change of use of 8 West Street because they said it went against planning policies that protected the core shopping area.
The application by Mr P Brown had been recommended for approval by planning officers because it had been given permission for various uses over the years, including an office and art gallery and it had been vacant over a long period.
Thirteen letters against the proposal were submitted to the planning authority from local residents.
Planning consultant Stephen Gill spoke at the planning meeting on behalf of Tavistock Chamber of Commerce chairman Nigel Eadie. He said the fact that the shop had been empty for eleven years was not a planning reason to approve the application.
It was pointed out that although the location was granted an alternative use in 2004, the policies which came into being in 2005 protected core shopping frontages.
Cllr Mandy Govier said following the meeting: 'If we approved that application we would have ridden a cart and horses through our own policies.
'We had just turned down applications for Sainsbury and Lidl because we wanted to protect the viability and vitality of the town centre and this is the same thing.'
Mr Eadie said there was a red line in planning policy that ensured town centre shop frontages could not be changed to anything else.
'That red line is there to ensure that we get a good mix of different businesses across the town. If there is too many of one thing like cafés you lose that diversity and it does not matter whether it is eleven years, eleven days or 100 years that that shop has remained empty, planning policy is there to prevent this sort of thing happening.'