A BOROUGH councillor has welcomed the decision to approve the transformation of an ‘eyesore’ former newsagents in Thelwall.

A planning application to redevelop the abandoned shop, on the corner of Thelwall New Road and Alderley Road, has been given the green light by the council – despite objections over parking and the scale of the development.

Developers want to create a shop and a flat on the ground floor of the extended building with three further flats on the first and second floor.

Cllr Ian Marks (LD – Lymm North and Thelwall), a former council leader, has welcomed the decision to approve the plans.

He said: “I am delighted that at last we seem to have a solution for this property.

“The building has been an eyesore for years and years and is highly visible to anyone travelling along the main road.

“More to the point, residents are well and truly fed up with having to live close to it for so long.

“The planning application that has finally been approved is more modest than the original one, which was overdevelopment for the site.

“But councillors and residents are still worried about the parking provision. There is off street parking for the living accommodation but not for the shop.

“It is at a junction and opposite a school with parents dropping off and collecting their children.

“There is a real concern about safety partly caused by a lack of visibility. We must hope the council has got this right.”