Latest news with #CarillonCourt
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Tylers store in Loughborough fears over footfall after entrance boarded up
A department store director says he is worried about falling customer numbers after the main entrance doors were partly boarded up as part of development Tyler, one of three directors of Tylers Department Store in Carillon Court, Loughborough, said the doors still open but the boards over the glass portions of the doors give the impression the store is Commercial Ltd wants to knock down about 70% of the Carillon Court shopping centre and replace it with new student Herbert, a consultant working on behalf of the developers said the store was given 18 months' notice to reconfigure its entrance. Mr Tyler says anything that affects customers' ability to enter the store has a "detrimental effect on footfall".He said legal proceedings were ongoing over access rights between the company and the developer."We have a main entrance to the mall, which is just outside our doors, which we rely on for all our customers to come in and out of safely," Mr Tyler said."Unfortunately, last Wednesday night the developer decided he was going to board up the glass element of the doors."We've got contingency plans because we suspected that something like this might happen, so we're going to look at providing another entrance onto the main thoroughfare but we intend to stay here."We have always asked the developer please work with us and not against us. We are not against the development, never have been." Mr Herbert, from Space Retail Consultants, who are advising the developers, said the store's right of access through the shopping centre was always on a short-term basis."They have known we are closing the shopping centre since October 2023," he said."So, they've had 18 months' notice to look at options to reconfigure their entrance - it doesn't have to be within the shopping centre and they have chosen not to take notice." Sean Hutton, 56, from Shepshed, who has been a customer of the store for more than 30 years, said: "As a customer it's causing confusion."The sign says no entry when clearly there is entry, you can get through the doors currently."We've just seen someone walk to the doorway and turn around and walk away."Julie Hutton, 61, also from Shepshed, added: "It's a family business. We know their grandad, their great grandad, their history and these guys are just trying to survive and this doesn't help." Rebecca Turner, 38, from Quorn, said: "Tylers has been established for over 100 years, supported the town and I think it's appalling. "It's a disgrace not only for Tylers but I've got a pram and it was awkward for me to open the doors and get in, and also for disabled access." Charnwood Borough Council ruled last month that the developer needed to secure planning permission before any demolition work can start on the shopping centre.A spokesperson said it had considered an application on behalf of the developers and its "view was that as the proposal was to demolish part of a building, it did not meet the requirements under permitted development and would therefore require planning permission".
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Carillon Court shopping centre demolition put on hold by council
A developer aiming to demolish Loughborough's Carillon Court shopping centre needs to secure planning permission before any work can start, a council has ruled. Leicester Commercial Ltd wants to knock down about 70% of the shopping centre and replace it with new student flats. It asked Charnwood Borough Council if prior approval was needed before the demolition could begin, with the aim of starting work on 18 May. But a council officer has said planning permission is required because it is unclear how the demolition would affect Tyler's Department store and the former Green Man pub. A solicitor who wrote to the council on behalf of Tylers said: "The car park is a part of Tylers and vice-versa. "It is physically attached via three internal walls and runs into the second storey and over the top of the first storey of Tylers, without separation from the rest of Carillon Court." The solicitor added Tylers also had direct access into the car park on the first and second floors of the shop, which act as an "alternative exit within the building in case of emergency". The Green Man pub, which closed in the early 1990s and has remained largely untouched ever since, is also the basement of the building and the planning officer said the developer had not been clear enough on whether the basement would be kept or demolished and filled Library Local Studies Volunteers Group argued the Green Man pub should be retained as an important part of local history. In a letter to the council, the group wrote: "We believe that its fixtures, fittings and colourful murals, as they were on the day of closure, are still intact, making it an attractive representation of a style from over 50 years ago."The plan would involve levelling about 70% of the shopping centre around Swan Street, Derby Square and Market Street, leaving only the front part of the building near Market Place and Tylers still Commercial Ltd, which bought the centre from administrators in 2021, has said there is not the demand for retail space that there used to be. 'Devastating for shopkeepers' The Local Democracy Reporting Service said residents had also raised concerns the plans could "devastate" nearby businesses. In a letter to the council, one resident said the demolition would turn the centre into "a no-go area for shoppers" due to the noise. "The demolition of the site will devastate the business for surrounding shopkeepers," they wrote. Another member of the public said the proposed demolition would "hugely" affect Tylers, which the resident described as "one of the very few best quality shops remaining in Loughborough".Leicester Commercial Ltd will now have to submit a planning application for the demolition, which would need to be approved by the council before work could start.
