Supermarket plans approved on appeal

Published on 31st May 2007 in News

The 'will it, won't it?' question of Howden's supermarket has finally been decided in favour of the developers.

Permission for a supermarket, residential development and car park at the former Geodis site off Hailgate was turned down by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) last September.

An appeal was lodged and, after a three-day inquiry at Goole Leisure Centre, the application has been allowed to go ahead.

Developers Strawsons Property, of Newsholme, have drawn up plans to clear the old depot site and build a Somerfields supermarket, 55 apartments and a car park in one application. They submitted a separate outline application for a residential development.

Planning bosses turned down the first application and voted to put the second one on hold.

Initially, the ERYC objected to the size of the supermarket, claiming it was not big enough to meet the needs of the town but this objection was withdrawn in March. They also felt that the design did not reflect Howden's historic character, and this remained an objection.

Residents and town councillors had expressed concern about the extra traffic it would bring to Hailgate. There were also fears that a supermarket would take trade away from the smaller shops in the centre.

Regarding traffic, the inspector said he appreciated residents' concerns but concluded: "The scale of the proposed store is modest and most likely to serve local needs.

"In this context, the level of traffic generated by the proposal, including heavy goods vehicles, would be consistent with that role."

Contrary to what this newspaper was told in March, a witness for the ERYC said there was no objection to the appearance of the supermarket or the design.

In any case, the inspector concluded: "I agree with English Heritage that the designer of the supermarket has largely succeeded in ensuring that it does not look like a modern convenience store."

The inspector, who made his comments after a site visit on March 28, said that a three-storey development would not unacceptably block the views of the tower of Howden Minster.

Conditions relating to the design of the doors and windows, and the materials, surface and colouring will be attached to the permission and the inspector felt that these, along with landscaping, would ensure the development fitted in with the rest of the town.

No retail studies had been given to the inspector and he noted that opinion over the size of the supermarket was divided, with some people fearing it too small for Howden and others believing a modest-sized store would provide healthy competition in the town.

"I am not in a position to conclude that the proposed store is of an insufficient size," the inspector said.

"Here, there is no suggestion that the proposed store would have an unacceptable effect on the vitality and viability of Howden town centre and I have no reason to conclude otherwise."

Adrian Sail, Strawsons, said he was 'delighted' with the result.

"We're hoping to start work on site in about four months' time," he said.

A spokesperson for the ERYC said: "Howden town centre is largely unspoilt and new development has followed the historic street pattern, with buildings aligning the streets and generating the traditional sense of enclosure.

"Openings of any size are generally attractive settings to buildings like the Minster.

"The council's concern with this proposal was that a supermarket surrounded by car parking, service yards and road viewed from Hailgate would look like the entrance to a supermarket anywhere rather than a new street leading out from this historic market town centre to a new residential area of the town.

"Unfortunately, this was not a view shared by the inspector who focused more on the design of the building itself rather than its context and setting."

Home plans decision

The second appeal related to the plans for a residential development on an adjacent site, on land behind the infant and junior schools.

The ERYC had not made a decision on the second site because they felt it premature to do so before a decision was made on the supermarket site.

"Given my conclusions on Appeal A [the supermarket site], I consider to allow Appeal B would not prejudice the comprehensive development of land to the east of Hailgate," the inspector said.

Sir -

Remember all the celebrations from our Conservative East Riding councillor, and local MP, congratulating themselves for stopping the supermarket development? Remember the words of caution from the Town Council and myself advising that this was premature and it was cruel to those residents who wanted it stopped, that they had successfully beaten off the developers?

The supermarket plans have been passed at appeal, along with outline permission for all the housing at the rear of the site, on Hailgate.

So, to all those residents who wanted the competition and reduced prices a second supermarket would bring to the town and the increased parking, congratulations. You can now do all your shopping in the town, at the supermarket and the superb local specialised shops for which Howden is well known.

To those who did not believe or support the Town Council in trying to manage the inevitable supermarket development, I suggest you contact your local MP and East Riding councillor for an explanation. Howden could have progressed into the future with dignity and forward planning, with community facilities and easier access. Instead, we now have to make the best of a bad job.

Ingrid Ridley

Keeper's Cottage,

Brind,

Howden

Sir -

The supermarket and housing development in Howden - the planning application for which has just been approved on appeal - is good news for the town, not just for those without the means to get to supermarkets elsewhere, but also for shopkeepers, who will benefit from the extra car parking in the centre of Howden and the extra customers the supermarket will bring into the town.

But what is not good news is that the access to the whole of this development is through Hailgate, which will add to the already bad traffic congestion. Howdenshire Forward predicted six years ago that a planning application for the old United Carriers site WOULD be approved and that access WOULD be via Hailgate. Together with the town council we proposed an alternative access, which would have involved relocating the town's allotments and building a new road into the United Carriers site.

However, a campaign by 36 allotment holders and others, supported by David Davis, MP, and Conservative councillor Mark Preston, succeeded in scuppering the plan to move the allotments and then raised the wholly false expectation amongst people in Howden – and particularly residents of Hailgate – that the supermarket application could be successfully opposed.

As the former chairman of Howdenshire Forward, I regret that our original judgment about the likely success of the supermarket planning application with access from Hailgate has turned out to be 100 per cent right. But I regret even more that, in the face of an ill-informed campaign, Howden has lost the once-in-a-lifetime chance to have had a coherent development which would have enhanced the retail offering in the town centre and made a big impact on the traffic problems in the town.

And it would have done more: allotment holders would have had a better site, with more allotments for those on the waiting list; affordable housing could have been created and Howden Town Council would have had received over £1 million to invest in some of the urgently-needed social and leisure projects in the town.

I would like to think that Mr Davis and Cllr Preston and others would reflect on what their misreading of the planning position surrounding the United Carriers site has cost the town and maybe even apologise, but somehow I doubt it.

John Pole

(Ex-chairman of Howdenshire Forward)

Jetty House, Blacktoft