Asda plans for Bognor rejected

Four votes last night stopped Asda from opening a store in Bognor Regis.

Councillors on Arun District Council's development control committee decided by 11-7 to reject the firm's proposals.

The national retailer wanted to build an outlet with up to 4,459sq m of selling space at Oldlands Farm off the A29. It also offered to construct a 10,000sq office building and install the services needed for a business park to be created next to the store.

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The proposed development would have involved a 30m investment and created some 800 jobs in all. Some 500 of them would have been in the store.

But the committee's members agreed that the scheme on about 8.3hectares went against their planning policies. They gave four reasons for their refusal.

The first was that the site should be used to generate jobs in line with its designation as a future business park and allowing a store to go there could jeopardise that eventual development.

The second concerned the negative impact which Asda's presence would have on existing town centre stores. Councillors also decided that the firm had failed to show that enough demand existed to ensure the office block in the scheme would be occupied.

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Finally, they backed the Environment Agency's view that too little effort had been made by Asda to find alternative sites which were less likely to flood.

Asda has the right to appeal to the government about the refusal. A company spokesman said last night it would consider its next move once it had received the formal notice of its rejection.

The committee's passionate debate lasted an hour and 45 minutes.

Arguments for and against Asda's arrival on its intended site surged across the council chamber.

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Watching were about a hundred members of the public. Many held aloft A4-sized cards showing their support for Asda for councillors to see.

Rounds of applause burst out after committee members spoke in favour of the scheme and its effect on the long-awaited business park and Bognor in general.

Among them was Cllr Sylvia Olliver (Bersted). She said: "Asda would be a good kick-start to this area and we should not kick it into touch."

Cllr Simon McDougall (Bersted) said: "It's all about the principle of whether retail development should be on the outskirts of the town, regardless of the company involved. In my view, there is a very strong case that should be so."

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Cllr Colin Oliver-Redgate (Ferring) commented: "We should listen to the voices of the people. I don't think Bognor has too much to fear from an Asda superstore coming on to its outskirts."

But Cllr Ricky Bower (East Preston) said: "Any investment is welcome in Bognor but it has to be the right investment in the right place which conforms to the planning policies we agreed, went to a public inquiry and and have been approved by the government's secretary of state.

"It's an important site. It's a gateway to Bognor. We must have a quality development there."

Cllr Mark Butler (River) warned that shops in Bognor town centre would be badly affected by Asda's presence. "There is an inherent danger of damaging trade. These stores bring an awful lot into their own tills. It's a fallacy to think otherwise."

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