Minutes:
Further to minute 24 of the South and West Plans Panel meeting held on 8th November 2012, where Panel resolved not to accept the Officer’s recommendation to refuse an application for a supermarket at the junction of Moorhouse Avenue and Old Lane, Beeston LS11 and requested that the application be deferred for further information, Members considered a further report. Appended to the report was a copy of the Officer’s report to 8th November 2012 Panel and the approved minutes from that item
Plans, photographs and graphics were displayed at the meeting
Officers presented the report and a representative of the Council’s retail consultants, was in attendance to respond to questions and comments from the Panel
Members were informed that following the meeting in November 2012, Officers requested further information from both applicants. The applicant for this site elected not to provide additional survey work in support of their application as it was Tesco’s view that the survey work they had previously submitted still stood and it was their view that both of the schemes were viable, together with the proposed Asda store at Middleton
The view of Officers was that the impact of introducing a new offer into the area for top-up shopping would have a considerable impact on the viability of the Beeston Local Centre and it was for this reason that the recommendation to Panel was to refuse the application
Officers then introduced the application for a supermarket on Old Lane
Further to minute 25 of the South and West Plans Panel meeting held on 8th November 2012, where Panel resolved not to accept the Officer’s recommendation to refuse an application for a supermarket at Old Lane, Beeston LS11 and requested that the application be deferred for further information, Members considered a further report. Appended to the report was a copy of the Officer’s report to 8th November 2012 Panel and the approved minutes from that item
Plans, photographs and graphics were displayed at the meeting
Officers presented the report and a representative of the Council’s retail consultants, was in attendance to respond to questions and comments from the Panel
Members were informed that the applicant, Asda, had submitted further information in the form of customer surveys obtained from its existing store on the site and from survey carried out at Beeston Local Centre
The Council’s retail consultant had considered the information and the level of linked trips from the existing store to the other facilities at the local centre, which was of particular importance
Being mindful that the Panel had not accepted the impact of the development on the Dewsbury Road Centre as a reason to refuse the application, it was now the view of Officers that the existing Asda store already provided top-up shopping and that there was likely to be less of an impact on the local centre if this development was built and therefore the recommendation to Panel was to approve the application
Members heard representations on behalf of the applicants and from a local resident who made general objections to both schemes
Members commented on the following matters:
· the likely impact of the applications on Beeston local centre. Mr Connell from Colliers, the Council’s retail consultant stated that the local centre depended on the draw of Beeston Co-op for top-up shopping; that introducing a new offer into the area, i.e. Tesco, would have a greater impact and that two supermarkets in close proximity of the local centre would have a significant detrimental impact on it
· the timescales for the development of the Asda store, if granted permission, due to the delays experienced at the Middleton site and whether a reduced period for the submission of Reserved Matters and commencement of construction would be accepted. A representative of Asda who attended the meeting stated that the Old Lane store would be reasonably straightforward to develop unlike the Middleton site which had required several issues to be resolved before development could commence. Work on the Middleton Asda would commence in August 2013, with its opening planned for May 2014. For the Beeston site the suggested 6 months for Reserved Matters submission and 6 months for commencement of development was agreed to
· the need for local employment to be included in the S106 Agreement
· how Officers had approached the applications in view of Panel’s previous decision and a view that both applications should be allowed and the matter left for market forces to decide. The Head of Planning Services stated that a cumulative impact assessment was recommended to be undertaken and that both applicants had approached this differently. The view of Officers was that together the two stores would have an impact but that the decision rested with Panel
Members considered how to proceed
RESOLVED – To note the reports, and the information provided and to move to determination of the applications