New Skegness store 'could be Tesco'

A new convenience store in Skegness could be run by Tesco – the owners have confirmed.
Plans have been approved for a new convenience store in Skegness next to the Welcome Inn.Plans have been approved for a new convenience store in Skegness next to the Welcome Inn.
Plans have been approved for a new convenience store in Skegness next to the Welcome Inn.

East Lindsey District Council’s planning committee gave the go-ahead to Punch Tavern’s plans for land next to the Welcome Inn, off Burgh Old Road, on Thursday.

The store will have a gross internal floor area of 372sqm, and the plans will see the reorganisation of existing parking to elsewhere on the site with an additional 39 spaces created for a total of 78 across the whole site.

The proposals include three footpath routes across the site designed to encourage pedestrians to use them.

The store will be built next to the Welcome Inn in Skegness.The store will be built next to the Welcome Inn in Skegness.
The store will be built next to the Welcome Inn in Skegness.

Jeremy Heppell, speaking on behalf of Punch Taverns said: “This convenience store will assist residents in the western part of the town to more easily meet their day to day shopping needs.”

“The proposal will provide a valuable service to the local community, ensuring residents don’t have to travel further afield,” he added.

In response to councillors questions he confirmed that Tesco would be the “likely operators” of the store.

“We deliberately haven’t put the name of the store operator in the application, because it’s a convenience store and could be operated by anybody but since you’ve asked the question, currently Tesco are the key operator, so not another Spar,” he said.

He said the Welcome Inn would be retained in its entirety.

The application had received objections from Skegness Town Council and 22 local residents due to concerns around over development of the site.

Councillor Mark Dannatt said: “This caused a lot of a lot of phone calls and and distress to a lot of residents in the town.”

He said the junction was “absolutely dreadful” and “very hard” to enter and visibility was difficult with overgrown plants.

He also noted traffic issues when other nearby shops were taking deliveries.

“We would lose some services in that area,” he added, raising concerns over the nearby Post Office and parcel service.

Other concerns include the number of already existing shops, the danger to children in pub grounds, overcrowding of vehicles , drainage and restricted visibility due to the site.

However, other councillors felt there were no viable planning reasons to object to the application and it was approved by six votes to one with one further abstention.