Prestwick set for second superpub bid

Mar 11 2011 by Stuart Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

PLANS have been lodged for a second superpub in Prestwick.

Buzzworks, who own Elliots and Dome in the town, want to transform the old Broadway cinema.

The building, which has sat empty for the last five years, would be turned into a cheap food and drink pub in the style of JD Wetherspoon if plans are given approval.

It follows the controversial approval of a Wetherspoon pub just yards along the street in the town’s former Woolworths store.

That move was bitterly opposed by a string of objectors – led by Buzzworks.

But now they will test the planning system with a bid for an identical model of pub.

And it’s believed South Ayrshire Council chiefs are already fearing the application, knowing they are powerless to stop it on grounds of over-provision.

A planning source said: “The Wetherspoon application set a big precedent because the planning panel was literally forced to approve it.

“It’s well documented that the over-provision argument is a non-starter with the way the law stands at the moment.

“That leaves the council open to further applications like this and there doesn’t seem any way to introduce over-provision as a valid reason now.”

However, Buzzworks would be adding a further 500 drinking spaces to the town’s Main Street should their application be successful.

They’ve already had a bid for a hotel and basement nightclub at the Broadway rejected after a public backlash.

And they’re staying tight lipped on the long term plans for the site, with a possibile judicial review against Wetherspoon’s move in the pipelines.

The site, which Wetherspoon have won planning and licensing permission for, remains untouched.