Shropshire Star

Village shop seeks permanent status after 'immeasurable impact'

A community-run shop which has had an “immeasurable” impact on its village in Shropshire has applied to become permanent after seven years on temporary planning permission.

Published
Tibberton Village Shop

Tibberton Village Shop, which relies on 60 volunteer staff, started trading in 2012, first on two-year then five-year consent.

Now the Tibberton Community Shop Group, the society who run the Cherrington Road store, have applied for permanent status, and the parish council are behind them.

The bid will be discussed by Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning committee later this month.

The shop, which has volunteers ranging in age from 14 to 90, is run as a not-for-profit and won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2017.

It stands next to Tibberton’s village hall, on land owned by the Diocese of Lichfield.

Tibberton and Cherrington Parish Council’s message of support, sent to Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning department, says they are “wholly supportive”.

It continues: “The impact the community shop has had on village life since its creation is immeasurable.

“It brings together residents in a way that very few, if any, other ventures could ever hope to achieve.

“Quite simply, it is difficult to imagine Tibberton without the community shop.

“The parish council believes, therefore, that the time is right to end the temporary planning arrangement under which the shop has hitherto been operating.

“There have been no issues raised with the structure of the premises out of which it operates, which is totally suitable for the service it provides.

“The design and overall look of the shop is clean and functional. It is well-maintained and looks a credit to the community.”

Planning committee members will go on a site visit to the store on Wednesday, July 31, before voting on the application later that day.