Apparently no planning permission is needed to convert a pub into a shop. This makes sense: it's already a food and drink retail premises and an 'on' licence is a step up from an 'off' licence, as food hygiene rules for on sales are stricter.
Unfortunately what this means in practice is a number of public houses closing down and turning into small branches of supermarkets - for example Tesco Metro and Sainsbury's Local.
The latest example is the old Richmond Park Hotel in north Kingston. Once the home of okay beer and good Thai food it had been closed down for some time. The other day I was coming home from having a pint at the excellent Park Tavern and decided to go via Kings Road to pick up some groceries - as it happened from the Co-Operative Food.
Imagine my astonishment to find that the Co-Op is no longer a small shop near the old barracks but has taken over the Richmond Park Hotel in blue and purple gaudiness.
And the layout! I have rarely been so horrifically smushed. Could barely get inside due to someone using her phone by the entrance and when you get in the aisles are narrow and all at right angles to the entrance so you need to execute a quick turn right away and then try to negotiate further turns at the end of long narrow corridors designed to maximise shelfage and make it impossible to negotiate especially at 4pm when the place is full of mums and small children. The walk home, this being Kingston of the narrow pavements, was increasingly nightmarish and I took several hours to recover once I'd got home.
It's a shame as I am a true supporter of the Co-Operative movement, I even have a Co-Op membership card. But I can't say I ever want to go there again.
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