One Stop Stores has dropped plans to open a corner shop at The Chocolate Quarter in Keynsham.
The site of the potential convenience store
However, other operators are said to be “interested”, which will come as welcome news to people living in St Monica Trust’s retirement village and the adjoining housing estate at Somerdale.
In February 2024, One Stop Stores, which is a subsidiary of Tesco, secured a licence to sell alcohol at the ground-floor unit of The Chocolate Factory, which is the commercial block right next to the retirement village.
Bath & North East Somerset Council then granted planning permission the following month for the change of use of the unit to a shop, and it was suggested it would be opening a couple of months later, creating at least 10 jobs.
A subsequent application for a bin enclosure was approved in June. But One Stop did not move in, and the premises have remained vacant.
The retailer did however open a store in Keynsham High Street earlier this year, incorporating the relocated Post Office.
Now Keynsham Town Council has been told by the retailer that it has withdrawn from The Chocolate Quarter following a “strategic review” and has no further interest in the property.
Developer Taylor Wimpey has built hundreds of homes in the grounds of the old Cadbury’s factory and the retirement village opened there in 2017, but to date, there has been no retail shop to serve the new community.
Originally, retail space had been planned in a 24-apartment block next to The Chocolate Factory but there was a lack of interest from national convenience retailers.
St Monica Trust revised its plans and in 2021 got permission for a block of 44 independent living properties.
Called Millstream, it is due to open later this year and will mark the completion of St Monica Trust’s £60 million redevelopment of the former Cadbury’s factory which closed in 2011 when production moved to Poland.
Last week, a St Monica Trust spokesperson told the Bath Echo: “Naturally, our residents are disappointed at One Stop’s decision not to pursue the opportunity to open a shop at The Chocolate Quarter.
“However, we are currently in detailed discussions with a number of other convenience store operators who have expressed an interest in the Somerdale site.”
