A CROWD congregated outside Bourton-on-the-Water’s only newsagent today to protest against an application to change the use of the newsagent to a hot food takeaway.

Councillors Paul Hodgkinson and Len Wilkins, of Cotswold District Council (CDC), followed by a crowd of more than 30 protesters marched from the Bourton Newsagent to landlord Les de la Haye’s home to deliver a letter asking him to start a dialogue with local councillors.

Addressing Bourton residents before delivering the letter, Cllr Hodgkinson said: “We have been very hugely concerned when we first heard about what would happen.

“The newsagent has been here for 70 years and it is a viable business. It is also a social hub and a community centre, and we must not forget that Bourton has more than 5,000 people living here.

“My feeling is we must keep this shop. We are going to ask the landlord to have a dialogue with us and to ask him: ‘Please do not take our newsagents away.’”

Cllr Wilkins also said: “I want to make sure we have assets in this village. Hopefully, CDC turn down this application. It can go to appeal, but we will do whatever we can. Thank you for supporting this and for writing your objections.”

The planning application for the newsagent has had 108 objection letters as of this morning. 

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

(Cllr Paul Hodgkinson and Cllr Len Wilkins holding the letter asking the landlord to engage in talks)

Mr de le Haye answered his door to Cllr Hodgkinson and Len Wilkins and a crowd of demonstrators outside his house just after 11.30am today.

Keeping his door open just enough to speak to his visitors, Mr de la Haye said that he had looked at the written objections sent to the district council and he accepted the letter.

The letter handed to Mr de la Haye wrote: "As you are probably aware, your plan to close Bourton News is meeting with unprecedented concern and disapproval from the community of Bourton-on-the-Water and its surroundings.

"What all this boils down to, Mr de la Hayes, is that, although you may look on your plans a 'how business works', the community, of which you are a part for at least some of the time, feels very strongly that the business should not be working to the community's disadvantage.

"We would like to have a dialogue with you over this issue."

Sean Maffett, an organiser of the protest and resident at Lansdowne, Bourton, said: “I was encouraged by the fact that Mr de la Haye came to the door and accepted the letter. We may have achieved something today.

“I think it is important because the newsagent is one of the few shops that local residents really value, like the post office and the chemist.

“Most of the other shops are there for tourist purposes and don’t benefit the residents other than putting tourist money into the village.

“The prospect of losing the newsagent is significant to the people who live here. People do see it as an important social hub of the village. I worry when I see a business trying to take over something that has a social aspect.”

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

Sean Maffett, an organiser of the protest and resident at Lansdowne, Bourton speaking to protesters outside the landlord's home

Jo Wallis, of Sherborne in Bourton, said: “If Mr de la Haye would be less greedy and look at the people who need the shop, look at all the old people who cannot drive.

“Landlords want too much money for their shops.”

She added that the village, which had lost a bank, a deli, four butchers and a dairy over the years, “now has just gone down hill.”

Sue Roberts, who lives near the high street, said: “Bourton is such a large area that they do newspaper deliveries for people that have difficulty getting into the high street. The deliveries are important for them.”

The nearest newsagents outside of the village, residents said, were in Stow, Northleach, Andoversford.

Another Bourton resident Mollie Wise, said that there were concerns over a new or expanded fish and chip shop, pointing towards the possibility of more tables and chairs placed on the pavement.

She said that in one instance, a Post Office worker could not clear the post box by the newsagent because of the chairs and tables outside the neighbouring fish and chip shop.

She added: “There is a bus stop just there. A lot of people congregate in that area.

“We are becoming a theme park, not a community.”