{"id":2153,"date":"2015-04-12T06:49:04","date_gmt":"2015-04-12T06:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/wp\/?p=2153"},"modified":"2015-04-12T06:49:04","modified_gmt":"2015-04-12T06:49:04","slug":"store-wars-the-planners-strike-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/2015\/04\/12\/store-wars-the-planners-strike-back\/","title":{"rendered":"STORE WARS: The Planners Strike Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

A report and update from Tim Mars.<\/p>\n

\"Proposed<\/a>
Proposed site plan for Asda on the Daniels Industrial Estate at Lightpill. Click to enlarge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Looks like it\u2019s game set and match for ASDA.\u00a0 On Tuesday 14 April 2015, Stroud District Council\u2019s Development Control Committee meets to reconsider the three out-of-town superstore applications and the in-town supermarket possibility.\u00a0\u00a0 They are strongly recommended to give ASDA\u2014and only ASDA\u2014the thumbs-up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Alternatives:<\/a>
Ryeford Alternative: The Ryeford proposal - artist's impression of a store at Brunsdons Yard at Ryeford. Click to enlarge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At last September\u2019s meeting, planning officer Darryl Rogers\u2019s recommendation was that ASDA on the Daniels Industrial Estate at Lightpill should be approved and the other two applications\u2014for Brunsdons Yard at Ryeford and the Avocet Industrial Estate at Dudbridge\u2014should be refused.\u00a0 That meeting decided to postpone the decision for six months to give Setminds a chance to work up their embryonic proposals for the Market Tavern \/ Cornhill site and to put in a planning application.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Alternatives:<\/a>
Dudbridge Alternative: The Dudbridge proposal - artist's impression of a store at the Avocet Industrial Estate at Dudbridge. Click to enlarge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So Tuesday is the rematch.\u00a0 And the officer\u2019s recommendation is\u2026 as before, that ASDA should be approved and the other two out-of-town applications should be refused.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Market<\/a>
Market Tavern site<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What about the Market Tavern \/ Cornhill site, the one that caused the delay in the first place?\u00a0 Nothing doing, according to Darryl Rogers. \u00a0<\/span>Still embryonic, no finalised scheme or planning application submitted, no evidence of a contractually committed operator for any element.\u00a0 Setminds still has no dog in the fight.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a link to the Development Control Committee agenda and reports:\u00a0http:\/\/goo.gl\/nq5lP7<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Darryl Rogers also includes a detailed update and assessment of the Market Tavern \/ Cornhill site, for which there is as yet still no planning application:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018At this stage it is important to note that this is not a formal proposal nor is it part of any confirmed pre-application discussion between the Local Planning Authority (LPA) and the applicant. At the time of writing (31\/3\/15) no planning application in any form has been submitted to the LPA and the LPA are not aware of any timetable for any potential submission. This matter is included on the schedule solely to enable Members to make an informed decision with regard to the relevant weight to be given to relevant existing and potential material considerations and then to factor such duly weighed considerations into the overall decision making process.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

He sums up the merits and deficits of the \u2018embryonic\u2019 Market Tavern \/ Cornhill scheme thus:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Merits:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Town centre location.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No requirement for a sequential test.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Could increase footfall and linked trips to the centre.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Could provide a qualitative retail addition to the town centre.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Re-use of redundant building<\/p>\n

Deficits:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Appears somewhat embryonic in nature
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No finalised scheme or planning application submitted
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is not a suitably sequentially preferable site to the current proposals.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Difficult to class as existing, committed and planned investment.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No firm evidence provided to identify a contractually confirmed operator of any element.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Would result in the potential loss of a food operator in the town centre in the short term with no confirmed long term replacement.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Potential short term and long term impact on the operation and retention of the existing farmers market with resultant significant change to the retail offer provided by Stroud Town Centre and the inter-relationship of this offer to the overall viability and vitality of the centre.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three sketch schemes for the site\u2014the triangle of land between Union Street and Cornhill, bookended by the Market Tavern to the south, Swan Lane to the north, with the Cornhill market place and various retail units in between\u2014have been drawn up by Roberts Limbrick Architects. The thumbnail images below show each design – click to enlarge each in a new window.<\/p>\n

\"Market<\/a>
Market Tavern Proposals: Roberts Limbrick Architects Sketch 1. Click to enlarge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Market<\/a>
Market Tavern Proposals: Roberts Limbrick Architects Sketch 2. Click to enlarge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Market<\/a>
Market Tavern Proposals: Roberts Limbrick Architects Sketch 3. Click to enlarge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each shows slight variations on the disposition of the three retail elements across the site, but all three scenarios propose a car park at first floor level on the roof of the new foodstore \u2018also to be used for farmers market occasionally\u2019.\u00a0 What is proposed would effectively be an extension of the current Iceland service yard and loading bay\u2014a full storey above the existing level of the Cornhill market place.\u00a0 This does not sound remotely like the ‘town square’ or ‘piazza’ that Setminds\u2019 agent Andrew Watton was talking about.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As it will be a full storey above Union Street and the existing Cornhill market place, it would presumably have to be accessed by ramps and stairs\u2014unless the only access is to be from the existing vehicular entrance to the Iceland service yard from Cornhill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is hardly an improvement on the existing arrangements for the Cornhill market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is certainly not a town square or piazza, it\u2019s a car park.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It does not open directly off Union Street so it cuts the market off from the surrounding streets into which it currently spills
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It moves the market further away from Union Street and places it on a higher level, even less accessible than the current (unsatisfactory) enclosed design of Cornhill market place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is important to remember that these are sketch schemes and tentative thoughts and that no actual planning application has been submitted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, what is proposed seems nothing short of catastrophic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the time being, though, the Cornhill \/ Market Tavern scheme is a chim\u00e6ra, a pipe dream, pie-in-the-sky, and the only game in town, it seems, is ASDA.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Daniels<\/a>
Daniels Industrial Estate, Lightpill, Stroud. Protest against proposed ASDA by local residents and Stroud Against Supermarket Saturation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A report and update from Tim Mars. Looks like it\u2019s game set and match for ASDA.\u00a0 On Tuesday 14 April 2015, Stroud District Council\u2019s Development Control Committee meets to reconsider the three out-of-town superstore applications and the in-town supermarket possibility.\u00a0\u00a0 They are strongly recommended to give ASDA\u2014and only ASDA\u2014the thumbs-up.[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stroudcivicsociety.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}