Rejection of Asda store will cost Bognor £8m

That is the sum which is expected to be earned by the 150 full-time and 300 part-time workers at the proposed store and the some 700 people employed at the neighbouring business park.

The figures are revealed among the mass of evidence presented to Arun District Council by Asda to support its application for Oldlands Farm.

This scheme for a store with 4,459 sq m of selling space will be debated by the council's development control committee this afternoon (Thursday, December 18).

The estimated total yearly wage bill has been split evenly by Asda's planning agent, Drivers Jonas, between those at the intended store and the business park.

"Good-quality businesses and employers will attract and retain a skilled workforce and reduce the need for out-commuting from the district for work.

"Retaining a skilled workforce would create a net improvement in local unemployment levels.

"And the higher wages/salaries earned by employees will be circulated into the local service economy, particular Bognor town centre."

The document details how Asda supports its employees. The company has already pledged to work with the town's Jobcentre Plus to offer openings to unemployed residents.

On a wider scale, Drivers Jonas says Asda's commitment to Bognor will provide a multi-million sign of the town's regeneration.

"The combined value of Asda's initial investment is some 30m at a time of considerable economic uncertainty. This is significant," the company states.

"Without enabling development (the store), the opportunity to secure all of this investment and all of these jobs would be lost.

"The business park will play an important role in the local economy by allowing local businesses to expand or relocate and for their premises to be refurbished or redeveloped, thereby improving the business sector as a whole.

"It is suggested the wider economic benefits of this scheme far outweigh any retail planning policy concerns."

Drivers Jonas states no other suitable sites for an Asda store exist around Bognor town centre.

By providing more choice, the store would stop shoppers leaving the town for other destinations, it claims.

But Jonathan Baldock, of planning agent DTZ, was used by Arun to review Drivers Jonas' evidence.

He disputes the job creation figures.

Only those in the store are guaranteed by the plans.

He believes those in the business park will fail to materialise because the location is unlikely to be financially viable.

He also believes an Asda store will generate 43.98m a year in convenience goods sales, which is the retailing term for everyday purchases such as food.

This can only come from snatching spending from stores such as Morrisons and Tesco because it amounts to nearly all the day-to-day spending by Bognor residents elsewhere. It would be unrealistic for Asda to capture all that.

"There would therefore be severe impacts on the existing foodstores in Bognor...

Overall, we conclude that there is no demonstrable need for the scale of new convenience goods floorspace proposed by Asda," he comments.

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