Issue - meetings

Description of application – Full planning permission for the demolition of the existing public house and erection of an A1 retail foodstore, with associated car parking, reconfigured site access, landscaping, servicing and other associated works.

THIS REPORT WAS WITHDRAWN BY THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, PLANNING AND BUILDING CONTROL.

The reason for withdrawal of the report was due to the publication of very recent statutory Government guidance in respect of highways. This had raised considerable concerns about the proposal to reduce substantially the width of the public footway opposite the site as part of this application.

While the proposal also incorporated an increase in width of the pavement on the opposite side, the reduction was in basic terms entirely contrary to this guidance. The Highway Authority had raised serious concerns about this matter. While Lidl had provided their response supporting the benefits overall of their proposal, the Assistant Director Planning was not satisfied that the matter should be disregarded at this point.

The Council had yet to decide its corporate approach to this highways guidance. At this point, the Assistant Director Planning was not comfortable putting the application forward with the recommendation as set out in the agenda. He did not feel in these unusual circumstances that he could provide Members with a clear recommendation and therefore the application should be withdrawn from the agenda until such time as he could.

Additionally, the Assistant Director Planning intended to use this time to seek a review of the highways aspects of the proposal by an independent consultant as he was aware of the continuing concerns raised in this regard.