Agenda item

Representatives of Sainsbury’s will be at the meeting to discuss the recently submitted planning application for the development on Melton Road.  City Council Planning Officers also will be present.

Notes of the discussion about this development at the Community Meeting held on 12 January 2012 are attached at Appendix B for information.  Notes of the discussion at the meeting held on 15 March 2012 are included in the minutes of that meeting attached at Appendix A.

Tim Watkins, of Sainsbury’s, explained that a planning application had now been submitted for the development of a new Sainsbury’s store on the former GE Lighting site.  It was proposed that this store would be approximately 80,000 square feet, (making it approximately the same size as the Sainsbury’s store at Fosse Park), and would sell food and non-food items.

In addition, approximately one-third of the site had been reserved for B class uses.  This included industrial businesses, but as there currently was no demand in the economy that part of the land would be held until it became viable to provide these businesses.  Consequently, this aspect of the proposal was an outline planning application.

A high quality design was proposed for the new store, using a lot of glazing.  Most of the building would be timber clad, (excluding the service yard), and there would be comprehensive site landscaping.

The customer and staff restaurants had been relocated since the first design proposals had been made and would now face on to Troon Way.  They previously would have faced a blank wall, so the view would be improved and opportunities for anti-social behaviour reduced.

Environmental technologies would be used in the construction of the building, which it was hoped would combine to save 32% of the energy used.  For example:-

·           A ground source heat pump would be used to gather heat from approximately 200 metres down;

·           Waste cold air from the fridges would be captured and used to cool the store;

·           Natural daylight would be used in the building;

·           Rainwater would be harvested;

·           A Sustainable Urban Drainage Scheme would be introduced to alleviate potential flooding issues, (for example, from the large car park);

·           Waste food would be sent to anaerobic digesters, so none would go to landfill sites; and

·           The car park would have cycle lanes and six charging points for electric cars.

It was anticipated that 300 new jobs would be created through this development.  140 of these would be offered to staff currently working at the Belgrave Road store.  As many staff as possible would be employed from the local area.

It was explained that:-

·           Sainsbury’s offered various training and educational opportunities and had developed six food colleges around the United Kingdom, which offered accredited City and Guilds training;

·           Sainsbury’s always supported a local charity and had a “local heroes” scheme to recognise colleagues who did charity work;

·           Products were sourced locally where possible, to reduce road miles;

·           Small producers were encouraged to approach the supermarket with new ideas; and

·           It was proposed that petrol would be sold at the new store.

Concern was expressed that there was only one entrance to the proposed store and that it could be dangerous to have cars and lorries using the same one.  Steve Gosling, (a transport consultant working with Sainsbury’s), explained that it was preferable to limit the points of access.  As there were significant levels of transport adjacent to the site, it was proposed that there would be one access point, off Melton Road, from a new signal controlled junction.  This would be capable of coping with all visitors to the site, as well as the proposed new business use.

Delivery vehicles also would use this entrance, but would use a service road once inside the site.  It was likely that there would be approximately 12 articulated lorries coming on to the site over a whole day, which would try to avoid delivering during peak times.  This would be a lot fewer vehicles than had visited the former GE Lighting factory.

Sainsbury’s recognised how busy the junction of Troon Way and Melton Road currently was and was concerned not to make it any worse.  In order to improve it if possible, at no public cost, the next junction east along Troon Way would be improved.  The signalling at the junction of Troon Way and Melton Road also would be improved and the bus lay-by relocated.  Capacity through that junction would be increased by widening Troon Way either side of the junction.

It was suggested that, as there were two schools near this junction, it would be useful if a wider central refuge could be provided   Steve Gosling confirmed that this already was part of the proposal and was being incorporated in to the traffic signal design.

Automatic traffic counters had been used by Sainsbury’s and the highway authority to see what peak and off-peak traffic flows were like.  This also showed where traffic peaks matched retail peaks.  Sainsbury’s therefore was satisfied that the proposed highways works would improve the current situation and provide the necessary future capacity.

In order to encourage local people to apply for the jobs being created at the new store, employment opportunities would be promoted locally, (for example, through local job centres).  Help in applying on-line would be provided at a local point, (such as a community centre), to ensure that no-one was disadvantaged.  Jobs also would be created while the store was being built and would be available through the job centre.  Jobs in-store would be advertised a few months before the store opened.

The Meeting noted that Keith Vaz, the local Member of Parliament, was unable to be at the meeting, but had tabled a letter supporting the proposal in principle, although he had some concerns about the impact on businesses on Melton Road and Belgrave Road.

It was questioned whether the community facilities referred to in Keith Vaz’s letter had to be a community centre, or whether proposals from local residents would be considered.  In reply, the Chair stressed that no decisions had been taken on this yet, including where any community facilities would be located.  All parties would continue to listen to views being put forward.

In response to concerns, it was noted that the Council was not saying that the facilities had to be a community centre.  The Meeting was reminded that the Council had proposed to provide a swimming pool in the Ward, but residents had rejected that idea, and that community and sport facilities were available at Soar Valley College.

The Meeting suggested that a leisure facility should be provided as well as a community facility.  The Chair undertook to pass this on to Council officers.

It was noted that, if the necessary permissions could be obtained in the next few months, it was hoped that building work could start in early 2013.  Steve Brown, (a Team Leader with Leicester City Council’s Planning Service), explained that the planning applications had a process to go through before they could be considered.  For example, technical advice was being gathered and the views of the public sought.  The applications had to be considered within planning rules and policies and the policy for this site was that its use should remain as employment.  Employment was retained under this application, but consideration had to be given to whether the right balance of retail and employment had been included and to the impact on other retail areas.

Other factors that had to be considered were the environmental impact of the development, including the look of the store, car parking and whether highway facilities were acceptable.

As Sainsbury’s wanted to move from its Belgrave Road site to this one, it was anticipated that the two elements would be considered together.  In addition, an application from Asda for a new store in Abbey Lane had been considered by the City Council’s Planning and Development Control Committee on 3 April 2012.  Most of the elements of that proposal had been acceptable, but as it was known that the applications from Sainsbury’s were pending, it had been recommended that Asda’s application be considered with the two elements of the Sainsbury’s application.  If all the information required could be provided in time, it was possible that these reports could be considered by the City Council’s Planning and Development Control Committee in mid- June.

In reply to a question, it was noted that Sainsbury’s had a very strict code of conduct for building workers, including working closely with local people and agencies such as the Police to ensure that no problems were created by the building work.  The protocol they worked to was that builders should be considerate at all times.

Some concern was expressed about the impact of the new development on local businesses.  The representatives from Sainsbury’s explained that previous experience had shown how the store could work with local businesses and help increase those businesses’ turnover by encouraging new ways of working.

On behalf of the Meeting, the Chair thanked the representatives of Sainsbury’s and the City Council officers for attending the meeting.