MEMBERS of Royston Town Council s planning committee are still to oppose proposals for a new restaurant. They decided to object to the scheme when a planning inspector holds a hearing into the scheme next month. The inspector will decide whether to approv

MEMBERS of Royston Town Council's planning committee are still to oppose proposals for a new restaurant.

They decided to object to the scheme when a planning inspector holds a hearing into the scheme next month.

The inspector will decide whether to approve plans for an empty shop in Angel Pavement, Royston, to be converted into a restaurant.

Planning committee chairman Cllr Rod Kennedy said on Monday evening that members could not support the proposal. "In our view it is a too valuable site to lose as retail premises," he said.

North Herts District Council has objected to the scheme, too.

In a planning brief Lambert Smith Hampton, the company marketing the property, said 40 per cent of the inquiries it had received came from parties interested in converting it into a restaurant.

The planning brief said: "It is likely that demand for restaurants will increase as these are a service which many residents prefer to utilise locally.