PLANS to redevelop the former Bella Italia restaurant on Crewe's Grand Junction Retail Park are too much for councillors to stomach.

They say the scheme to subdivide the empty restaurant into two units to attract new tenants will hit town centre trade, particularly the new food outlets that have set up in the Market Hall since it reopened following a £3 million revamp.

Crewe town councillors are adamant the town centre needs a boost and fear smaller out-of-town food outlets could even damage the retail and leisure plans for the Royal Arcade regeneration scheme.

Cheshire East Council has received a planning application from the retail park's agents, Savills, to create two separate floor spaces; one of 186 sq.m to be occupied by a national multiple retailer; and a smaller unit of 111 sq.m to accommodate a café or sandwich shop.

But councillors say this will continue a trend that has seen an "alternative town centre" emerge on the Grand Junction.

The chairman of the council's planning committee, John Rhodes, says when the park was opened in the 1990s it was seen as an out-of-town development to attract large national chains, such as those selling white goods.

"Now they're starting to split [the stores] into smaller units. Originally the idea of out of town was for bigger units and in the first instance it was mainly white goods because that's all they could put there. You could name four or five shops that were on there, like Rumbelows - they've all gone bust now," he recalled.

"Slowly they started allowing food outlets and supermarkets and it became an alternative town centre.

"We've seen a slow migration of shops, the first one I recollect was Next, which was thriving in the town centre, but they wanted a bigger premises. Slowly they started introducing mezzanine floors for more floor space.

"Now it would appear they want to shrink it back to attract some different businesses.

"But we want to grow the town centre. We've got the Market Hall and it seems to attract people and we're trying to get young businesses in there, trying to make a go of it.

"Is it helping if just down the road we allow maybe another two restaurants on? Is that what we want for those units to be split up and all sorts put down there."

Town councillors have lodged their objections on the grounds the scheme will lead to "unsustainable competition for town centre trade" and impact on future town centre regeneration efforts.

They say the sub-division of the former restaurant also goes against previous planning conditions aimed at reducing the negative impact of the retail park on the town centre.

Bella Italia closed its store on the Grand Junction in July, 2020 after owner Casual Dining Group went into administration. The adjacent Chiquito restaurant, which also was shuttered, has since been occupied by the Burger Priest dining chain.