Timpson's pod may end up at Sainsbury's instead
Friday, 10th October 2014.
After the controversy over Tesco's plans for small pods in their car park for a variety of services including Halfords, Avis, a car wash, BUPA dentists and a photographers, one of the potential occupiers could now go to Sainsbury's instead.
Haverhill Town Council objected to the proposals from Tesco for both interior and exterior pods, on the grounds that this would compete with town centre providers in a way Tesco had agreed would not happen when it was originally granted planning permission.
Tesco soon afterwards withdrew some of the proposals.
One of the pods would have been for Timpson's, offering key-cutting, dry cleaning, shoe repair etc, and now Sainsbury's have put in a planning application to St Edmundsbury Borough Council for a pod for Timpsons in their car park.
In a statement supporting the application, clearly intended to address the town council application, Sainsbury's agents say the pod would be 'ancillary to the existing retail offer which the site provides'and would not be a destination in itself.
It goes on: "It is also important to note that the proposed pod operator, Timpson, already operate fromthe town centre at 3 Queen Street.
"There would be no benefit to thw town centre or to Timpson to provide a second outlet that provides the same services and is equivalent to, or smaller than the existing store.
"Locating two stores offering the same services within the same catchment is clearly unviable for the operator and Timpson would not open a second unit in the town centre for this reason."
It claims this satisfies the 'sequential test' by which planners require new retail developments to be situated within, or as close to, the town centre as possible and only if that cannot be achieved consider sitings further out.
Haverhill Town Council objected to the proposals from Tesco for both interior and exterior pods, on the grounds that this would compete with town centre providers in a way Tesco had agreed would not happen when it was originally granted planning permission.
Tesco soon afterwards withdrew some of the proposals.
One of the pods would have been for Timpson's, offering key-cutting, dry cleaning, shoe repair etc, and now Sainsbury's have put in a planning application to St Edmundsbury Borough Council for a pod for Timpsons in their car park.
In a statement supporting the application, clearly intended to address the town council application, Sainsbury's agents say the pod would be 'ancillary to the existing retail offer which the site provides'and would not be a destination in itself.
It goes on: "It is also important to note that the proposed pod operator, Timpson, already operate fromthe town centre at 3 Queen Street.
"There would be no benefit to thw town centre or to Timpson to provide a second outlet that provides the same services and is equivalent to, or smaller than the existing store.
"Locating two stores offering the same services within the same catchment is clearly unviable for the operator and Timpson would not open a second unit in the town centre for this reason."
It claims this satisfies the 'sequential test' by which planners require new retail developments to be situated within, or as close to, the town centre as possible and only if that cannot be achieved consider sitings further out.
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