Residents of a Dales village are up in arms after council planning officers threatened the end of their National Lottery service.
Footfall at Mayfield Stores in Holloway had increased significantly since owners Jonathan and Sharon Bagon installed a satellite dish to link up the lottery machine back in August.
However, when Amber Valley Borough Council received a complaint about the satellite, planners paid the shop a visit and ordered the owners to apply for planning permission at a cost of £170.
The officer explained thatthe application would probably be rejected but said it might succeed if the shop owners were willing to reposition the satellite further along the building.
Mr Bagon said: “We knew that we had to respect the conservation area and that’s why we positioned the satellite at the side of the building, hidden from public gaze and facing on to an unadopted private road.
“We don’t want to pay money for a planning application if we’re not going to succeed though.
“And if the council grants permission on the grounds that we move the satellite further along the building, the work and money required to do that would simply make it an unfeasible option for us.”
Mr Bagon added that access to the side of the building is very difficult and would require machinery – such as a cherry picker – to undertake the work.
This would be more expense for the shopkeepers who are already struggling to cope in a gloomy economic climate.
Jonathan said: “We feel that putting these constraints on a village amenity struggling to survive is grossly unfair.”
The pair have 28 days to act on the warning from Amber Valley Borough Council and are currently seeking support from councillors.
Amber Valley Borough had not responded to requests for a comment as the Derbyshire Times went to press.
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