Sainsbury’s continues fight to open store in Shipston after planning refusal

LET battle commence again… Sainsbury’s has returned to the fray and appealed against refusal of its plans for a supermarket in Shipston.

The issue of whether or not there should be a shopping option beyond the big names the town centre currently offers has been a hot topic for years.

Though a Tesco Express and Morrisons Daily have been added to the Co-op twins, Sainsbury’s put forward plans a year ago for what it termed a ‘Best in neighbourhood’ one-stop shop away from the centre, on the corner of Tilemans Lane and Darlingscote Road.

Still at the smaller end of the supermarket scales, the company said the store would have had around 50 parking spaces and created some 40 jobs.

And it backed up its bid with a survey of 400 households in Shipston and the surrounding area that showed the current mix was not keeping people in the town for their bigger shops, with only a quarter saying they did not head to, principally, Stratford or Moreton for a bigger choice.

But despite their positive spin, there were passionate responses for and against - and when it came to the crunch Stratford District Council rejected it on two grounds.

These covered issues such as the quality of design on a gateway entrance to the town, the lack of routes for people wanting to walk, cycle or travel there by bus - and also the possible impact of the service yard and external plant on the homes in Brickhill Close.

The impact on the town centre was not listed as a reason for refusal but the concerns over that outcome were added in a note to the two main reasons.

Sainsbury’s was notified of the appeal before Christmas but on Friday, 21st March, the planning inspectorate website logged an appeal had been made.

Comments from interested parties are wanted by Friday, 25th April and can be made by the planning inspectorate section of the gov.uk website.

The original application is listed on the district council’s planning portal under the number: 24/00528/FUL.