FAQ's
1) Sainsbury’s have withdrawn a recent planning application but are now submitting a new one. What is the reason for this?
Owing to the limitations of a Section 73 application which relates to planning conditions only, it has been agreed with Bromsgrove District Council to bring forward a change of use application to allow food and non-food goods to be sold from the existing non-food unit. The fundamental details of the scheme remain the same as the previous application. Additional details in relation to sustainability and waste management now support the change of use application. The new planning reference is 25/00118/FUL.
2) Will the footprint for the store sales area remain the same as the former Homebase store?
The existing Homebase store provides 2,504sq m net sales area (plus an external garden centre sales area of 939sq m). The proposed new Sainsbury’s store will not be trading from the mezzanine or the garden centre and so have a smaller sales area of 1,579sq m net meaning there will be less trading space.
3) What impact will the new Sainsbury’s store have on local traffic and access to the site?
Our plans include a smaller store trading footprint compared to the former Homebase store. We have conducted recent traffic modelling on our stores which suggest that shopping habits have changed over the past few years, owing to shifts in work habits, alongside the growth in online shopping. Accordingly, there has been a reduction in shopping during what used to be understood as peak shopping hours and far greater variance throughout the day.
We expect a small increase in the number of trips to the new supermarket and our transport survey demonstrates that the store will have a similar level of impact as the former Homebase store.
4) Is there enough parking for a new supermarket on site?
The application provides a total of 164 parking spaces for users of the former Homebase store and Pets at Home. Up to 123 of these will be available for Sainsbury’s customers and this number of car parking spaces meets the company’s operational standards in line with the size of the proposed store.
5) Will there be parking restrictions to avoid rail users using the car park for train station parking?
We understand that concerns have been raised about unauthorised parking at the store, particularly by train station users. The car park is shared with another unit on site and the landowner does not currently have parking restrictions.
We intend to monitor the situation carefully. There are a range of measures we can take to control parking, including Automatic Number Plater Recognition (ANPR) cameras if there is evidence of unauthorised parking in the future.
6) How will the new store impact the town centre?
Sainsbury’s are taking on an existing retail unit which was trading locally, up until recently. This means the application is to change the use of the building to sell groceries, rather than a new retail unit. Our plans would also see a smaller store footprint compared with Homebase.
To support this change, we have completed a Retail and Planning Statement which accompanies the application. Evidence within this statement demonstrates that the proposals are not considered to have a significant adverse impact on the vitality and viability of Bromsgrove Town Centre, Buntsford Park Road Local Centre or any other local centre.
7) Will the proposals for improvement works on the A38 be impacted on by a new Sainsbury’s store?
We are aware that the council is proposing some improvement works on the A38. Our store will not impact the proposed works. We are happy to work with the council should they wish to raise anything relating to these works, alongside our plans.
8) Will there be EV charging bays for electric vehicles onsite?
The car park is not controlled by Sainsbury’s so there are currently no plans to install EV facilities at the site.
9) When will construction start?
We will start construction once the necessary planning permissions and legal agreements are in place.
Sainsbury’s have recently taken possession of the store and are currently undertaking essential works to ensure the site is safe and secure during the period that it is vacant. We hope to secure planning permission and start work as soon as possible to avoid a long period of the store being empty.