Bosses at supermarket giant Sainsbury's say they are "extremely disappointed" that their plans for a new store in a Nottinghamshire town have been recommended for refusal. The company wants to build a Sainsbury's shop off Nottingham Road, Southwell.
But Newark and Sherwood District Council has recommended that the retailer's planning application be refused when it is considered at a meeting on March 16. Sainsbury's said 40 new jobs would be created by the multi-million pound development.
However, the district council said the location of the proposed store was "not environmentally appropriate". Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury's property and procurement director, said: "We are extremely disappointed with this recommendation and we disagree with the reasons listed.
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"Our application was submitted in September 2021 and since then we have worked incredibly hard to proactively mitigate any reservations with our proposals at a district and county level. This has included making a number of alterations to the scheme to address the areas of concern.
"People in Southwell have made it clear that a new food store is a badly needed addition to the town and a significant majority have indicated that they would support Sainsbury’s in fulfilling this role." Recommending the planning application for refusal, district council documents said: "Consideration has been given to the socio-economic benefits of the scheme which weigh in its favour.
"However, the proposal would result in the wholesale removal of identified important landscape vegetation to the north of the site and partial removal and disruption to the western boundary of important vegetation.
"This, coupled with the development of a large commercial unit set amongst a vast expanse of unbroken car parking, associated development including a signage wall and floodlights, and taking into account the necessary highway interventions required to make the scheme safe, would irreparably alter the rural character of the countryside through its urbanisation which would harm the transition from countryside and visually erode the entrance to this sensitive landscape setting of the town and its sense of place.
"This harm cannot be mitigated. While localised impacts, these are considered significant and outweigh the benefits of the scheme.
"It is considered that this location is not environmentally appropriate for such a development and therefore represents unsustainable development." A Sainsbury's spokesperson added: "The majority of local people support the idea of a new Sainsbury's store, with over 65% of comments on the planning application currently expressing support.
"Over 72% of respondents during Sainsbury's community consultation in 2021 indicated support for improving shopping choice in Southwell. If approved, the neighbourhood hub format store would see Sainsbury's invest millions of pounds in Southwell, creating around 40 new jobs for local people and providing a brand new place for customers to complete a weekly shop without travelling miles outside of Southwell by car to neighbouring towns such as Mansfield, Newark or Netherfield.
"Sainsbury's believes the rationale for recommending refusal is incorrect. The recommendation places significant focus on the suitability of the store’s proposed location, despite the fact that the parties have also agreed there are no suitable alternative locations in the town that could accommodate a new store.
"The recommendation also cites ecological concerns in its rationale, but as part of this it incorrectly refers to draft policy from a draft of the Southwell Neighbourhood Plan, rather than the final policy that was published the adopted Plan. It has been demonstrated via the ecological report commissioned as part of Sainsbury's proposals that the proposed location of the new store does not constitute a site of significant ecological value."
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