Campaigners will continue fighting plans to demolish a Moray landmark and replace it with a Co-op shop – despite the retail giant confirming an opening date for the store.
The Tennant Arms has stood on Lhanbryde’s St Andrew’s Road since 1854, and has been hailed as the village’s most famous feature.
Residents were dismayed last year when Moray Council approved proposals to flatten the beloved former pub and hotel and replace it with a grocery shop.
They took their fight directly to the Co-op, writing to the firm to make it clear that the shop is not welcome in the chosen spot.
But the villagers’ worst fears were realised yesterday when Co-op bosses confirmed that plans were in place to open the new outlet next summer.
Last night, lead campaigner Anita Milne insisted that the majority of Lhanbryde locals remained opposed to the development and pledged to continue pressing for a rethink on the matter.
She said: “We want to have a meeting with people from the Co-op, where we can explain to them that we don’t want a shop there.
“We are not opposed to having one of their stores in Lhanbryde, just not in that location.
“But they have shown no interest in talking to us.
“For a firm with co-operative in their title, they are not proving to be that.”
A Co-op spokesman stressed that the new 2,000sq ft store, which represents an investment of £500,000 in the village, would create 15 new jobs.
The Co-op’s head of new store development, Tony Hind, added: “We’re committed to finding great locations for our new stores, and are always on the lookout for new sites where we can be at the heart of local life.”
Developer Tahir Pervaiz first lodged plans to transform the Tennant Arms into a grocery shop at the end of 2015.
Last November, Moray Council’s planning committee endorsed the proposal despite it attracting more than 100 letters of objection and 500 people signing a petition to protect the building from the wrecking ball.
Developers have assured the protestors that the replacement building will be designed to resemble the Tennant Arms.
Architect Colin Keir said: “This is obviously emotional, but nothing stays the same forever.”