CHRISTCHURCH council has defended the delay over Christchurch Emporium's planning consent, saying it is "normal practice" - despite taking two years.

The shopping village is due to be partly taken over by Molly's Den next month, but still doesn't have permission for its change of use.

However, a decision could be made by the end of next week, said a council spokesperson, but only if there are no further changes to the plan.

Molly's Den will operate separately, alongside the Christchurch Shopping Village.

Christchurch council has said they are continuing to work with the applicant and their agent.

The application has experienced several delays along the way, since being submitted in 2015 when the venue first opened for business.

In January, the council claimed they were still waiting for outstanding information, but hoped to make a decision "in early 2017".

Previously they have recommended the proposal for the old Mostyn's factory in Bridge Street should not get planning permission, pending further information.

At the time, planning officers said they were awaiting more information from the agent on the change of use proposal.

Last year, the council said they were still waiting for the required information, with no change to the recommendation to refuse.

At the time, a spokesperson for Christchurch council said the Retail Impact Assessment was “inadequate”, and more information had been requested.

The proposal for the former Mostyn’s workshop is applying for a change of use to retail, cafe, office and conference space.

When initially submitted, the application was predicted to take around 13 weeks to complete.

Jane Lynch, the council's development management manager, said: "While we are processing a change of use application the applicant can continue operating.

"This is normal practice. We appreciate this particular application seems to have taken a long time to process, but this is due to the complexities and changes which have taken place at The Christchurch Emporium.

"We continue to work with both the applicant, and their agent, but we need to ensure that we follow the correct process. This would be the case of any change of use application.’’