Agenda item

Application:2020/1042/FULM

Location: Police Station Brownfield Site, Portholme Road, Selby

Proposal: Demolition and construction of a Class E foodstore, together with car parking, landscaping and associated works

The Principal Planning Officer presented the application which had been brought before Planning Committee as the application was previously presented to the committee on 1 June 2022 and deferred for further discussions to take place with the NYCC Highways Authority, relating to the mitigation of expected traffic difficulties caused by the development. In particular:

1. The acceptability of the access/ egress given the proximity of two other supermarkets;

2. Additional traffic on the localised network and;

3. A better understanding of the ‘Selby Places and Movement Study’ in particular what NYCC plan to do to improve the local highway network and its timings.

The report had been updated to reflect the Officer Update Notes from the meeting on 1 June 2022. The highway section had been amended to reflect post deferral discussions with NYCC Highways regarding the impact of the traffic generated by the proposals, the need for the financial contribution and the movement study.

The application has been brought before Planning Committee as part of the site i.e., the north-eastern corner (0.04 ha) was still owned by Selby District Council and included some existing trees and redundant gas governor. The sale was agreed to Aldi in June 2021; however, its completion was subject to planning permission being obtained. Hence, the Council were still landowners. This therefore did not comply with Council’s Constitution (3.8.9 b (ix)), which did not allow applications on Council owned land to be determined under delegated powers, unless they were minor applications and no objections had been received. The application had received objections and was not minor in nature.

Members noted that the application was for it was for the demolition and construction of a Class E foodstore, together with car parking, landscaping and associated works.

Gareth Roberts, Senior Transport and Development Engineers from North Yorkshire County Council Highways was in attendance at the meeting.

The Committee considered the Officer Update Note which set out two additional letters of support and an applicants update from the Highways Engineer.

The Committee asked numerous questions of the Officer relating to consultation of disability groups, the legal repercussions if the recommendations of the Highways Officer were not taken into account, if pedestrian safety would be included in any future Access and Movement study, the possibility of a routing agreement for HGVs and the option of traffic being directed a particular way to the supermarket.

The NYCC Highways Officer explained that all highway designs were considered with regards to street and disabled access guidance as well as pedestrian access. Members were advised that a routing agreement for HGVs had not been considered considering arrangements at other supermarkets in the locality, and that directing traffic a particular way to the supermarket would be unmanageable, unenforceable and unreasonable.

The Solicitor explained that for the Committee go against the recommendations of the Highways Officer was one that members were entitled to reach.

Andrew Moseley, agent, spoke in support of the application.

Members debated the application further and agreed that the committee’s concerns expressed at the previous meeting had been addressed by Officers and as such they were minded to support the application.

It was proposed and seconded that the application be GRANTED; a vote was taken and was carried.

RESOLVED:

That the application be GRANTED, subject to the conditions set out in the report.