Villagers keep fingers crossed for new shop (From Wiltshire Times)

Villagers keep fingers crossed for new shop

12:49pm Monday 24th May 2010 in

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Residents in Semington could soon have a village shop again, five years after the last one closed.

A 60 bed care home and 18 care suite care home has been granted planning permission for the High Street, next to the A361 roundabout.

Semington Parish Council and residents are negotiating an agreement with the developers, Orders of St John Care Trust, which they hope will result in the care home including a village shop as part of the development.

Robert Oglesby, parish council chairman, said: “We’re very keen for any shop facilities to be available to the community, and they’ve taken that on board. It’s a real bonus and a significant move in the right direction.”

The shop would be within the care home building, but operated by villagers, or rented out to a vendor.

The care trust would also provide a green area open to the public at the front of the care home, as a means of integrating the home into village life.

Diane Bowden, Wiltshire county director for the care trust, said: “It’s for the village to decide how they would like to run the shop. I think villagers want to see somebody as a neighbour who is respectful and I think a care home is not a bad neighbour, we’re not anti-social. It’s a nice area and we’re looking forward to it.”