Clock ticking on Asda's dream of £30m new store

Asda is keeping alive its £30m dream of coming to Bognor Regis.

The retailing giant has just 24 hours to appeal against Arun District Council's refusal to approve its plans for a store.

Tomorrow will be the six-month deadline set out in national planning rules for the appeal to be lodged with the council.

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This would spark a public inquiry headed by a government planning inspector who would make the final decision.

If Asda does not appeal, the company has to make a fresh application for the store and any other related developments and start what could be a year-long process all over again.

Asda's property communications manager, Tom McGarry, said the company was well aware of the clock ticking against its ambitions to open a store to serve the Bognor area.

"We are still considering our options," he said. "It could be that we will appeal or we could make a new application for a store. That is another option open to us."

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But Mr McGarry said Asda knew about the continued support among Bognor area residents for his company.

"It is heartening to see people are still supportive of us. We are bearing that in mind in our considerations.

"I would like to thank all those people for that backing. It should give Arun some serious food for thought," he stated.

The clamour for Asda has been expressed through the Observer's letters page as well as during this month's county council elections.

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Asda fan Stephanie Bayley, a mother of two, of Gordon Avenue, said: "I am still very keen to see Asda in Bognor.

"Asda would bring so many people in from such a wide area that it could only be good for the town.

"I don't see Sainsbury's doing that because there's a Sainsbury's at Chichester and another at Rustington.

"Asda would be such a draw for the town and the infrastructure they would put in would also be good for Bognor."

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Asda's ambitions for a 48,000sq ft store on Oldlands Farm off the A29 Shripney Road were revealed by the Observer in October 2007.

The proposals would see a 30m investment into Bognor. The plans include 4.5m to begin developing the necessary infrastructure for meeting Arun's long-held aspiration for a business park on the site.

It is anticipated the first phase alone would bring 1,500 jobs, with 500 of those in the new Asda store.

The council finally determined the application last December in probably its most heated development control committee meeting of recent years.

The outcome was an 11-7 vote against the proposals.

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Councillors said the store would damage the town centre, would be an inappropriate use of land earmarked for an employment park, insufficient demand existed for office space and too little account had been paid to flooding risks.

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