PROPOSALS to convert a former Dorset village Post Office and shop into home has sparked a debate about the viability of village businesses.

Most of the village residents who took part in a survey said they still wanted a shop – but over recent years it had not been supported enough to keep it profitable.

Dorset councillors heard that when it was advertised as a business, for almost four years nobody was interested in taking it on, until eventually it was bought for conversion to a home.

It is believed the building, The Old Post Office House in Church Road, Bradford Abbas, had been a shop since the mid 1880s, but in recent years has also been a tea room, hairdresser and a village store, each closing for a range of reasons.

“It would be lovely if we could all have a village shop, but that, unfortunately can’t be,” said Cllr Carole Jones, who told the area planning committee that she was content that the new owners would be preserving the building by using it as a home.

“Whilst there might be a desire for a village shop if it’s not commercially viable the present owner cannot be forced to turn it into a shop,” she said.

Most of the committee agreed and approved the change of use from its current status of a mix between accommodation and commercial to residential use.

The general rule is that 'community assets' should be retained unless proven they are not viable and there is no interest in anyone taking on the business, or a creating a new business use.

Council officers had recommended the change be allowed, accepting that the business had been put on the market but failed to attract anyone prepared to take it on as a going concern – a report concluding that, with recent economic changes, any commercial use at the site was unlikely to be viable.

Cllr Robin Legg, who grew up in the village, said he had fond memories of the building, but recognised the difficulties there had been over the last decade in maintaining it as a going concern. He said the Post Office had withdrawn its licence in 2012 after the unexpected death of the then Postmaster, which was followed by a period of closure and then a series of different uses for the property with it opening and closing.

An identical application for domestic use only had been refused previously by the former West Dorset District Council on the grounds that it should be retained as a business.

“The nearby villages of Thornford and Yetminster both have got thriving, viable, village shops and there is no reason why Bradford Abbas shouldn’t have one too,” said Cllr Legg.

The planning committee heard from the new owner, Mr Mark Roach, that he and his partner had bought the building to use as their home, close to relatives in Sherborne.

He said the layout was unsuitable for modern commercial use and that the community had adapted since the shop closed in April 2021 – with post office facilities now offered once a week from a room in the village hall; a weekly ‘pop up’ market; a larger monthly market; meat products being sold from the social club; church volunteers offering teas and coffees and the pub exploring how it could help resident by stocking a range of everyday items – in addition to its usual fare.

Said Cllr Belinda Rideout: “It’s very sad when you lose a village shop … people will say they want it but then they don’t use it, that’s just what has happened here,” she said.

Opposition to the change of use had come from the parish council and several residents, some arguing that it was against Dorset Council policy to allow the change of use for the building, although it is not designated as “an asset of community benefit.”

Similar arguments were made before Dorset councillors in recent months when the owners of a Maiden Newton restaurant successfully made an application to convert their property into their retirement home.