The fate of the Little Grocer site on Richmond Road is not yet settled.
A report from the spokespeople for the Incorporated Society fighting the planned 40-seat cafe, said that the applicant was not able to respond coherently to the society’s presentation, although they had been sent the society’s information well in advance of the hearing.
The society was pleased with the daily support of between six and 12 people who attended the hearing.
At the start of the week the applicants for the cafe made their case, followed by the council opposing and then the Incorporated Society presented its case. Witnesses were called by each party and cross-examined by the opposing party.
Susan Hirst, Jessica Fowler and Jo Patterson spoke for the society, alongside planning and heritage experts.
A report from committee member, Mattie Wall, said, “They were justly proud of the way they acquitted themselves, holding the line firmly against some tough and, at times, unpleasant and vexatious questioning by the applicant’s lawyer.”
The society had been advised by its lawyer to make a strategic decision to present an alternative proposal to the applicants that of a 20-seat cafe facing onto Richmond Road with the building being retained as a dwelling. That would allow a small cafe, like the much-loved Little Grocer, but would not be as disruptive as the much larger scale of the applicant’s proposal.
But the agony goes on!
The final plans will have been submitted by the time Ponsonby News goes to press, and the judge and two commissioners will probably have made their decision based on this information.
After two and a half years, this latest delay is very frustrating. The Incorporated Society has made the community’s concerns clear from day one, both at the pre-hearing meeting the applicant called in September 2014, and at the mediation they insisted the society attend - against the society’s wishes - at the end of last year.
The wait (two and a half years) is extremely frustrating, and although the applicants have agreed to remove the coffee roastery from their plans, and reduce the cafe numbers from 60 to 40 (still far too many), the society now has to wait again while the applicants get their act together, still pushing hard against the wishes of the local community.
This is an inappropriate application, absolutely unwanted by local residents. Why the applicants are so determined and bloody minded about it, Ponsonby News cannot understand. If they succeed they will face a total boycott.
We say they should quit while they’re behind! (JOHN ELLIOTT)