Former ITN anchor Alastair Stewart loses planning row with upmarket farm shop after saying its bid to sell clothes and jewellery would destroy the ‘character’ of town near his £1.8million home
- Alastair Stewart lives in Bramdean, 5 miles away from the leafy town of Alresford
- Family-run store Long Barn wants to expand its offering to local residents
- Stewart objected to plans saying residents would ‘lose control’ of community
Former ITN anchor Alastair Stewart has lost a planning row with an upmarket farm shop in Hampshire after he claimed an expansion of the store could ‘destroy’ the character of the town near his £1.8 million property.
The 67-year-old and his wife Sally objected to plans to expand the number of products on sale at Long Barn – a family-run home and garden store in Alresford.
Under the plans, owners Richard Norris and Jane Marsden, who opened the farm shop 12 years ago, wanted to expand their product range and sell items including food, clothing and jewellery.
The application divided local residents and the council have now approved the expansion.
Alastair Stewart and his wife Sally objected to plans to expand the number of products on sale at Long Barn – a family-run home and garden store in Alresford.
Stewart, 66, and his wife Sally blasted the expansion plans at Long Barn (pictured), claiming it was ‘quite alien’ to the character of the area
Stewart had previously blasted the plans, claiming it was ‘quite alien’ to the character of the area and saying residents would ‘lose control’ of their community.
The shop also wants to extend its cafe, which Stewart claims could destroy the ‘character’ of the peaceful town.
In May last year Stewart said: ‘I object to any abuse, by the owners, of existing permissions.
‘Without the strict adherence to such permissions, we lose control of our communities, our amenities and our countryside.
‘Second, I object to any further permissions because what was initially a modest and useful retail offer has grown out of all recognition.
‘Finally, I object on the basis that a longer term intention of utilising full retail permissions may well be used for a purpose quite alien to the character of Alresford.
‘We live in Bramdean and Alresford is our closest town. We consider ourselves as close neighbours and nearly residents.’
It comes just one week after the newsreader was forced to resign from ITV over a tweet he published where he referred to one man as an ‘angry ape’.
Stewart lives in a £1.8 million home in nearby Bramdean, almost five miles from the leafy town.
Long Barn’s applications received a big response, with 189 locals writing in support, and 139 filing formal objections.
Pictured: A curving street through Alresford, Hampshire, with a pub in the distance
After it was approved one member of the public left his seat to address a closed Winchester City Council meeting.
Another objector, Simon Evans, told the Winchester City Council planning committee meeting: ‘I sat in here as the chairman of the Alresford Chamber of Commerce eight years ago, and was all-for the Long Barn.
‘Today, I ask you to refuse this retrospective application. The applicant continues to copy and paste the key aspects of Alresford businesses, killing the market town.’
Chris Allen, of Alresford, said: ‘The continued expansion of Long Barn threatens the existence of other local businesses within Alresford, with footfall being diverted away from the town by Long Barn continuing to widen the range of products they sell.
‘Alresford thrives on the fact that it contains a wide range of local independent businesses, many of whom have been here for a considerable number of years, but this is being compromised and will continue to be the case if Long Barn continues to expand to the detriment of other local businesses.’
Resident Ingrid Fry, added: ‘It’s even sadder to fill the new buildings with stock that is by the same suppliers who have for many years been supplying goods to the variety of original shops in Alresford town centre.
‘There is so much choice out there new talents /designers it would be exciting to introduce alternative products but not step on the toes of the existing shops in the centre of Alresford town who also have the internet purchasers to deal with.’
But the directors of Long Barn, Mr Norris and Ms Marsden, who were represented by their agent, Daniel Wiseman, rebuffed the comments claiming that their business was not impacting on the trade in Alresford.
Mr Wiseman said: ‘I’ve been the consultant for Long Barn for 11 years, and this is a destination that has become a very encouraging asset to the town of Alresford.
‘It has created 54 jobs, and brings lots of customers from outside of the town – 68 per cent of customers travel from ten or more miles away. Fifty-eight per cent of these then head further into the town.’
Mr Wiseman also pointed out that the vacancy rate in Alresford High Street is currently at zero percent.
In helping to determine the decision, Laura Grimason, associate director at Gillings Planning who was asked by the council to undertake a retail assessment of the plans, said: ‘To conclude, Long Barn generate a significant economic benefit for the local economy in terms of employment opportunities for local people, contribution to visitor spending, attraction of visitors to New Alresford and use of local retailers and services.
‘As highlighted previously, Long Barn is a rapidly expanding business that has more than doubled its turnover in the last 2 years and increased its business 20-fold since it began at its current site in Alresford.’
Stewart quit ITN last Wednesday after Tweeting a black man lines from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure which included the words ‘angry ape.’
Announcing the end of a news reading career spanning four decades, Stewart said in a statement he accepted he had made a ‘misjudgement which I regret’.
Colleagues lamented the departure of Stewart with one senior ITN journalist insisting ‘he is not a racist’ and describing the choice of quote as ‘no more than ill-judged’.
MailOnline has contacted Mr Stewart’s agent.
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