A decision on whether to allow a new supermarket to be built in a Nottinghamshire village has been delayed. Plans for a Heron Foods store to be constructed on Kirklington Road in Rainworth were due to be considered by Newark and Sherwood District Council on Thursday, July 6, but this was postponed.
Planning officers had advised councillors on the planning committee to grant permission for the proposal to go ahead, but it was pulled before the meeting. This was due to "late information [being] submitted that needed to be assessed", a Newark and Sherwood District Council said.
This means the plan will now have to be decided at a later date. The application relates to a fenced off unused car park to the southeast of the former Robin Hood Hotel located on the corner of Kirklington Road and Southwell Road East in Rainworth.
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The ground floor of the former Robin Hood Hotel building is currently in use as a Tesco Express, with its car park next to the application site and accessed off Southwell Road East. The prospective Heron Foods would be served by a 12-space car park with additional parking provision for disabled vehicles adjacent to the store.
Separate customer vehicular and pedestrian accesses would be provided off Kirklington Road, while deliveries would be directed to use the existing access off Southwell Road East, which is proposed to be widened, and the delivery bay outside the existing Tesco store.
Revised plans were received during the course of the planning application to address concerns regarding design, highway safety, parking and impacts on trees. In a planning committee report, Nottinghamshire County Council's highways department said it had withdrawn its previous objection to the project as "some significant changes have been made to satisfy the highway safety concerns listed in [its] previous reports.
"These have now been either satisfactorily addressed or the information provided now allows the Highway Authority to make an informative decision and request any outstanding details to be conditioned. On the basis of the available information, the Highway Authority is content with the proposed development."
Rainworth Parish Council has consistently objected to the plans, citing concerns over pedestrian safety within the car park, lack of space to manoeuvre delivery vehicles, and the safety of children on Kirklington Road. But before the plan was withdrawn, a Newark and Sherwood District Council planning officer had endorsed it.
"The proposed development is acceptable and would enhance retail provision within the centre of Rainworth to serve its growing population. The proposed new building has been appropriately sited and designed and overall, the proposed development would have no adverse impact on visual amenity nor the amenities of existing or future residents," the planning officer said.
