Red tape thwarts bar (From Stroud News and Journal)

Red tape thwarts bar

A BUSINESSMAN who hopes to bring one of Stroud's landmark buildings back into use claims he has been thwarted by bureaucracy at every turn.

Terry Coles plans to convert the dilapidated old cinema in London Road into a winebar and bistro along the lines of the Warehouse in Dursley, which his company Seraville also owns.

But the scheme to spruce up the battered building has been dogged by problems since the outset.

First he had to persuade Railtrack to let him put up scaffolding on land at the back of the building but delays led to him taking out a court order to get things moving.

Now he says he has run into an impasse with a distinctly unhelpful district council which seems unkeen to move taxis from the rank in front of the building while work is being done.

"It's a massive building operation but it's only temporary," he said. "It's been horrendous trying to get anything done.

"On top of that we've had two break-ins in the last ten days, it's just ridiculous."

But Mark Arnott, licensing officer for the council, refuted the businessman's claims saying nobody at the council wanted to stop the work happening.

"We're certainly not opposed to the work being done," he said.

"But we need to consult the taxi drivers before we give him the go ahead.

"We're still waiting for a few drivers to come back to us and obviously we can't go ahead if they are opposed to it.

"They pay a substantial amount of money each year for the privilege of parking on licensed ranks and we can't just move them elsewhere without speaking to them first.

"So far most have no major problems with it and potentially it may well go ahead but it will take time to sort it out."

Though the rank does not see as much use as the Woolworth's rank it has been adopted by new firm Five Star, said Mr Arnott.

David Marshall, a spokesman for the council, said it was difficult to see what else could have been done for Mr Coles.

"We've bent over backwards for him.

"Though we have no specific policy for this building we have put a lot of effort into filling empty buildings across the town centre and this is a major property that has been disused for a long, long time.

"Having it brought back its no use has got to be a good thing."