Relocation Approval After Oral Hearing
We had a very busy end to 2017 and one of our best achievements was to secure the relocation of a client’s pharmacy from their high street location in Stone, Staffordshire, to a new medical centre building at the edge of the town centre. The application was strongly opposed by a local pharmacy operator and ended up being decided by way of oral hearing. Solicitors acting for the objector argued that the move away from the high street meant that the application should not be approved and that there was a mental barrier that patients would have that would prevent them from using the relocated pharmacy. We were able to show that there was no evidence to support much of what had been claimed by the objectors and the oral hearing panel agreed that the relocation did meet the criteria of regulation 24 and should be approved. Our client intends to complete their move within the next 6 months.