Hello,
Sharing this here as I received it in the post this morning.
According to the leaflet, the proposal will be discussed tomorrow 18 June at The Signal Pub from 16:00 to 20:00.
2 Likes
Oh, wow!! Thatās news to me. I didnāt get that leaflet and Iām only a few doors down.
Thanks so much for the heads up - I will be there!!
Interestingly (and probably because of the short notice), I see that the online version says this is now taking place next week instead, on 24th June
That would be a great location for an M&S Food, but I guess thereās a lot of them about and very few Morrisons in the local area. Always good to have new A1 retail in the town centre.
Disappointing that it isnāt being built with residential above. Iām not sure that we should be building single storey units in town centre locations, and with planning permission granted for a much taller building, it is possible that this is actually under-utilizing the site.
3 Likes
Ridiculous proposal for a site so close to the station to have no housing provision. As for the ālong vacant brownfield siteā bit, itās only because of the original proposal that it is vacant. I note the landowners have chosen to let the site run down, because itās cheaper and makes their proposals look better than the dereliction they have gifted the community. There wasnāt graffiti everywhere around the site before they decided to ignore the art on their hoardings for years.
I can see the upside of bringing a vacant site back into use, but Iām a bit concerned about the impact of the proposed Morrisons Daily, EV chargers and car valeting at 1 Waldram Park Road.
My main worry is traffic and safety. That junction already feels busy, and adding short-stay shop traffic, cars turning in and out, EV charging, and valeting bays could make it more awkward for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.
Iām also concerned about noise, especially from engines, vacuums, pressure washers, deliveries and late-evening customers if the site is open until 11pm.
Iām not against improving the site, but Iād want to see proper traffic management, safe access, clear limits on valeting hours, and strong noise controls before feeling comfortable with it. Curious what others nearby think.
Great points all around
My immediate thought was also that it makes no sense to create a single storey solution here on such a major plot. You could easily have residential or even office space above and still have the exact same retail opportunities, but contribute much more to the local area.
I was never sold on this as a hotel location, in large part because they had no space in the design for delivery vehicles. The same concerns me here. A supermarket needs regular deliveries. I would like to have more details about how they plan to implement that safely as well, especially on the corner. I seem to recall coop lorries had to reverse in from the South Circular.
Iām not a fan of the valeting offering as it feels like wasted space and the potential for noise and pollution, but I do like the idea of EV charging as an offering at least ā¦ but Iām guessing that there will be few car parking spaces for the shop and so the chances of them being āICEādā (if youāre an EV driver, youāll know what I mean) is very high.
It is a shame that they are doing this with no images of the actual plans. Iām guessing that both the images on the fliers are stock images. It would be good to know if they actually have a potential Morrisons contract, or whether this might be made available to other brands (as we know that M&S and Boots are both looking).
Something to think about, and good to see movement on this plot
1 Like
This is great news. While I had always thought a hotel would bring some good benefits to the community, especially our local night time economy - Iād be very happy with another grocery retail operationā¦ also selfishly as it is on my way home from the station.
The document does not reference a specific grocer so perhaps they would still be looking for a tenant.
Non-residental probably gives them (or future owners) flexibility to bulldoze the site and build something else in future. Easier to do with a single commercial occupant. Would that even be possible if it included residential?
Although this might be good news for consumers, we should remember that some local businesses might be concerned about competition, eg other convenience stores and the car wash place on Church Vale.
Iām fine with Morrisons over M&S lol. But agree that some residential above the commercial would be good for sure.
Definitely positive to see a charging hub locally, and maybe even bring a little passing trade for a few of the local shops too.