WAITROSE - THE RESULT

[Gareth Roberts]

Hello

 

Within the last few minutes the Planning Committee voted unanimously to approve permission for the change of use so we can expect a new Waitrose in Hampton shortly.

 

There were several speakers both for and against the proposal. I spoke as a Concerned Councillor offering broad support for the scheme but requesting that further consideration be given to additional traffic audits being conducted both 3 months and 6 months after the opening of the store so that this could give further evidence for consideration by planning officers. I also asked that there should be greater consideration of some provision of staff parking on site to ameliorate the parking difficulties experienced by neighbouring streets - officers have promised to look at this as part of an existing condition.

 

John also spoke regarding the need for a full road safety audit to be conducted and this was also agreed as a condition of planning consent being granted - I'm sure that he will have more to add later.

 

Best Wishes

 

G 

[paul johnston]

Many thanks for the update, Gareth. How would things work with the 3 months and 6 months traffic audits? Surely, once Waitrose had received planning permission and opened, then whatever those audits showed it could only be a case of considering measures to mitigate any traffic issues? Or can the local authority actually write into the planning permission some degree of conditionality so that the permission could be revoked if sufficiently serious traffic problems arose?

[John C H Soones]

After the meeting, the Waitrose representatives told me that they probably won't open until the New Year.  I was surprised.

 

I suggested the safety audit because of the concerns of parents and teachers at Hampton Juniors.  It will measure the pedestrian movements, with particular emphasis around the school.  There could be some fine tuning regarding locations and numbers of pedestrian crossings.  Gareth suggested the two traffic surveys to see if the movements are as anticipated.

 

The limit to the parking in the car park may be varied, but with close negotiation with the officers and Waitrose.

 

My compliments to the officers who really did have an excellent understanding of the concerns, fears, doubts and worries of the residence.  They summarised them very well to the committee and corrected a number of misunderstandings and added to the process.  It's fair to say that everyone's view had been noted and taken into consideration.

 

Let's hope that in 6 months time, the residents who objected find that it isn't a bad as they feared and that the rest find it's as good as they hoped.

 

John

[Gareth Roberts]

Thanks for the additional info, John.

 

One thing to add which, I think, will give us all some comfort was that there was a deal of talk by the committee about the fact that there wasn't similar provision in Hampton in terms of a chain supermarket in Hampton. What I took away from that was that now we have (or will have) a Waitrose we're in a stronger position to insulate ourselves against the spectre of Tesco which has haunted the village for as long as I can remember. Unless they find a large existing retail space to take over they will, I think, find it more difficult to get Change of Use permission on any other site.

John C H Soones said:

After the meeting, the Waitrose representatives told me that they probably won't open until the New Year.  I was surprised.

 

I suggested the safety audit because of the concerns of parents and teachers at Hampton Juniors.  It will measure the pedestrian movements, with particular emphasis around the school.  There could be some fine tuning regarding locations and numbers of pedestrian crossings.  Gareth suggested the two traffic surveys to see if the movements are as anticipated.

 

The limit to the parking in the car park may be varied, but with close negotiation with the officers and Waitrose.

 

My compliments to the officers who really did have an excellent understanding of the concerns, fears, doubts and worries of the residence.  They summarised them very well to the committee and corrected a number of misunderstandings and added to the process.  It's fair to say that everyone's view had been noted and taken into consideration.

 

Let's hope that in 6 months time, the residents who objected find that it isn't a bad as they feared and that the rest find it's as good as they hoped.

 

John

[Debi Gard]

Excellent news. More jobs on the way!

[John C H Soones]

Thanks Gareth.  So it seems we can protect ourselves from having a rash of Tesco Express, Lidl, Aldi, Sainsbury etc.

 

Regards,

John

[Chris]

My mother swears by lidl's!!- still looking forward to waitrose opening, it's going to give Hampton a much needed 
boost... 

John C H Soones said:

Thanks Gareth.  So it seems we can protect ourselves from having a rash of Tesco Express, Lidl, Aldi, Sainsbury etc.

 

Regards,

John