Changes to planning permission for a new Sainsbury's supermarket close to The Riverside Stadium have been pushed through despite doubts over whether the store will open.
Building work at the site in Middlehaven started in September, but Sainsbury's confirmed earlier this month it was reviewing moving its store from the current location on Wilson Street.
In the latest development, an amendment to planning permission for the site has been pushed through by council officers - after Sainsbury's insisted they could not wait for the changes to go before a committee of councillors.
Speaking at a Planning and Development Committee meeting on Friday, development control manager Ernie Vickers said: “Just before Christmas Sainsbury’s came into the office with another planning application - an amendment to the current application.
“The request was to divide the site into two smaller units which would have no effect to the appearance of the building.
“We were pushing on with the application when, last Monday, we found out that Sainsbury’s board were wobbly about getting on with the development, particularly because of this planning revision.
“Sainsbury’s wanted permission before the end of last week. We couldn’t wait for committee.”
As reported, Sainsbury’s had previously confirmed it was to relocate from its Wilson Street store to an 80,000sq ft outlet at Middlehaven once the construction work was completed.
Mr Vickers said: “We worked really quickly and permission was granted on Thursday by the officers to make sure Sainsbury’s stayed on track. As you may have noticed, work is still going ahead on site.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t bring it to the committee - but needs must.
“We needed to make sure Sainsbury’s headquarters remained robust.”
Praising the decision to press ahead, Middlehaven Ward councillor Pervaz khan said: “I’m really glad council officers dealt with it as they did.
“To keep Sainsbury’s on track is excellent even if it had to go through without the compliance of the committee.”
Earlier this month a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “The food retail market is extremely competitive and has changed considerably since our proposals for Middlesbrough were first announced.
“We are reviewing our plans across a number of supermarket sites, including Middlehaven.
“Once we are in a position to do so, we will update the community on our future plans for the site.”
Regarding the decision to press ahead with the approval before the planning committee meeting, a Middlesbrough Council spokesman said: “Approval for the amendments to the original planning permission was granted in accordance with the Council’s scheme of delegation.
“The only deadline we are required to meet is that imposed on us by statute for the determination of planning applications.
“We will always endeavour to process amendments in a timely manner.”
No comments:
Post a Comment