HORRABRIDGE residents have won their fight to save a once-loved pub from being turned into a Co-op store.

Plans by the Co-operative for the change of use of the Leaping Salmon pub have been turned down by Dartmoor National Park.

Owner of the Horrabridge Stores and Post Office Dee Hopkins has this week thanked the village for their support in fighting the plans — more than 800 people signed a petition against the proposal.

The Leaping Salmon closed at the end of last year and the Co-operative Group submitted a planning application to turn it into a convenience store after securing a lease for the building.

Dartmoor National Park Authority decided there were too many problems with the Co-op application to take the plans before elected members, therefore turned down the plans using a delegated powers procedure.

The application was refused on grounds related to highway safety, impact on the Conservation Area and lack of information on archaeology, amenity by virtue of noise impact and surface water.

Planning officer Joanna Burgess, said: ‘The application was dealt with by officers under the Scheme of Delegation because the recommendation to refuse planning permission was in accordance with the objection by Horrabridge Parish Council and the vast majority of those who submitted representations in respect of the application.

‘It was concluded that although the impact on the existing businesses could not be considered a material planning consideration, in light of the other issues, the balance was not in favour of this new retail unit in the local centre.

‘In essence the development could not be considered sustainable development which accords with the Dartmoor National Park Development Plan and the public benefits of the development did not outweigh the harm to highway safety, residential amenity, the heritage assets and flood risk.’

Devon County Council’s Highways said it could not make comment on the plans without more detail on the management of parking and pedestrian access to the proposed convenience store at the site of The Leaping Salmon, where the front door to the building leads directly onto Whitchurch Road.

Although some local people supported the idea of a Co-op, saying they welcomed the chance of a wider range of goods available in the village, the majority of residents rejected it.

Many feared that if plans were accepted for a change of use of the premises from a drinking establishment to a retail outlet, another pub in the area would be lost forever.

The Leaping Salmon was once a thriving pub but closed in November last year due to a fall in trade. The owner, Enterprise Inns, agreed a lease with the Co-op to secure the property’s future

Over the past few months, residents had objected to the plans by writing letters to the authority and campaigning via the Facebook page, ‘Stop the Co-op’ set up to fight the proposed convenience store.

Heading the campaign were Tony and Dee Hopkins who have owned the only convenience store currently in the village, Horrabridge Stores, for ten years.

Dee said: ‘We are very pleased not only that this application has been refused but on the grounds it has been refused on.

‘We feel there is not a lot the Co-op can do about the highways queries because the company does not own the entrance area.

‘We would like to thank the village for the support we received for the petition, which the majority of the residents signed. We will continue to provide the best service we can to the village.’

Some locals were not so pleased, however, that the Co-op plans had been refused.

Jamie Hughes, posting on Facebook, said that he was ‘gutted’ that the plans had been refused. Julie Campbell also expressed that she was ‘all for having a Co-op in the village’ as this would enable a better and wider range of products to choose from.

Planning officer Joanna Burgess said that the Co-op seemed to have been correct to argue that the change of use was not an issue and neither was the competition for existing businesses in the village. Therefore the Co-op still has the option of making a revised application, addressing the points that led to refusal, she said.

For now The Leaping Salmon’s future is uncertain and the planning decision does not change the fact that the pub will remain closed.

Various ideas have been mooted in the village including transforming the pub into a medical centre, a pannier market or affordable housing.

Co-op was unavailable for comment.