Tesco plans for Felpham on hold

The concerned members of Arun District Council deferred the proposals for the Tesco Express convenience branch to gather more facts about its impact on surrounding roads.

They said the information which had been provided by county council highways officers to the development control committee was too poor on which to base such an important decision.

They wanted an independent highways expert to assess the volume of traffic likely to be generated by the outlet.

Cllr Ricky Bower (East Preston) said: "I have got a lot of problems with this in terms of the highways information.

"I am not confident that the county council have got a handle on this as far as the traffic assessment is concerned.

"So much so that I want a second opinion on highways. I am not prepared to approve or refuse this application given the information in front of us from the county council."

He wanted the new verdict to be based on traffic flows around the store's proposed location at the Felpham Road/Middleton Road roundabout with or without the northern relief road which will eventually be built along with 700 homes to the north of Felpham.

It is not known how long the independent expert will take to prepare a report. It will be considered at a future meeting of the committee before its members decide on Tesco's application.

Cllr Bower's call for a second opinion was widely backed. Cllr Simon McDougall (Bersted) said: "I have serious doubts about the way the traffic modelling has been done on this application.

"There is a recipe for disaster here and even, possibly, a serious accident. I certainly don't want that on my conscience for any decision I may make as a member of this committee."

He referred to the frequently reported traffic problems which surrounded the current Tesco Express stores as proof of what conditions could be like if the Felpham branch went ahead.

Cllr Jacqueline Maconachie (Aldwick West) said: "Anyone who goes past that site twice a day at an inconvenient moment will know that it is an absolute hazard.

"I do not understand how so-called experts could come up with information like this."

Cllr Jim Brooks (Bognor Marine) stated: Nobody is against convenience shopping but I don't think there is a more hazardous site to put a shop like this."

Council planning officer Keith Wheway warned the committee the fresh report into traffic could back the views of Tesco and the county council that the site could safely absorb the traffic of shoppers using the proposed store.

"I can't predict what the consultant will say but, even if he says it's fine, that doesn't stop you as a committee refusing the application because you are the ones making the decision," he pointed out.

Long debate

The councillors' decision came after a 90 minute debate.

Three parish councillors - two from Felpham and one from Middleton -spoke out against the Tesco plans.

Felpham parish councillor Graham Matthews stated that a bus stop, a pedestrian crossing, a children's play area, two churches, a pub and a restaurant surrounded the proposed store.

A Middleton district councillor, Barbara Oakley, also opposed the scheme.

Two speakers did put the case for Tesco and two county council highways officers also put forward their view that the store's traffic could be accommodated.

But the committee over-rode their opinion based on computer modelling and called for the fresh assessment.

Tesco applied to Arun to replace the Richmond Hyundai showroom with a 383sq m single storey convenience store.

An articulated lorry will make a delivery every 54 minutes on average. Many will be at peak times.

It is expected to generate 152 two-way vehicle trips in a peak hour.

Sixteen car parking spaces will be provided for customers.

None will be set aside for the 25-30 full and part time staff. They will be expected to walk or cycle to their jobs.

As well as the parish councils, 89 individual letters of objection to the arrival of Tesco were received by Arun with ten in support.

The independent assessment will also take account of the Tesco store's effect on existing shops in the neighbourhood.

Strong fears exist that it will take trade away from them and push some into closing. Evidence from Arun's retail consultant showed enough spending power existed for all the shops to carry on.

But Cllr McDougall said the data was a year old at a time of rapidly worsening economic conditions.

"There are serious question marks around the information we have. There are local shops around there whose situation will have changed tremendously in the last few months," he added.

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