Alternative Uses on Former Hurrans Garden Centre sites
February 3rd 2011
Perhaps garden centre operators in the unusual position of owning a site within a settlement should be considering the potential for redevelopment for other uses….
You will recall the sale of Hurrans' five Garden Centres at the beginning of 2009. Webbs Garden Centres bought the West Hagley site in May 2009, whilst Hilliers are now operating at the Banbury site.
Interestingly, two of the centres have recently received planning approval for alternative uses.
In November 2010 a scheme for a new Tesco supermarket on the site at Churchdown was given approval in principle. The 0.9ha site will accommodate a 1,000m² food retail unit on the eastern half with a 107 space car park to the east. There were 259 objections to the proposal from the public and only 30 letters of support. The site does not lie within a designated retail area; therefore it is considered an out-of-centre location. However, a number of considerations meant that the scheme will get the go-ahead anyway. The site lies within the settlement boundary surrounded by residential development. The proposals include highways improvements and the site is accessible by a choice of modes of transport. A retail impact assessment submitted with the application demonstrated that at present there is a deficiency in provision of food shopping facilities within the catchment area with the majority of people travelling outside the area to do their food shopping. There would be no harm to existing or committed food retailing facilites or town centres as a result of the development. Furthermore, the proposal would result in the creation of up to 120 new jobs. The permission will be issued upon completion of a Section 106 Agreement to secure a Travel Plan. This decision may interest any owners of sites in similar situations.
Meanwhile, at the former Hurrans site in Langstone near Newport, planning permission has been granted for the erection of 60 dwellings on a 1.9ha site. This is a high number of dwellings for a former garden centre site. Where housing has been permitted on other sites it has been generally for a much smaller number of units. The permission was gained at appeal following the refusal of the application by committee against officer's recommendation for approval. In this case there were 54 letters of objection from neighbours, largely relating to a lack of community and shopping facilities in the locality. As with Churchdown, the site is within the urban area and surrounded by residential development, and as such the principle of the development complied with the relevant housing policies. The site was defined as brown field land. Interestingly, despite the land having been cleared, the Inspector took the effect of the former Garden Centre on traffic generation into account when assessing the proposals. 12 of the 60 houses are required to be affordable housing. A Section 106 Agreement was entered into to ensure the provision of play space, the affordable housing, and a contribution to educational facilities.