Permission granted for Asda store on site of The Cheylesmore

[dutchman]

Councillors have granted permission for either a new Asda store or a community centre on the site of Coventry's former Cheylesmore pub in Daventry Road, Cheylesmore.



The vote at Coventry City Council's planning committee this afternoon was tied at four against and four in favour of the Asda store, but the casting vote was made by committee chairman Kevin Maton to grant permission.

Councillors also approved plans for a community centre complex on the site.

However, there is not room for both a store and a community centre so as Asda owns the land, it is likely the plans for the store will go ahead.

Asda had submitted two plans - one for an art deco design and one for a more modern building.

The art deco plan was given permission while the modern design was rejected.

Residents and local ward councillors had campaigned against the plan.

The community centre application was made by the Cheylesmore Association which runs the existing centre in Poitiers Road.

[dutchman]

Traders win fight to stop Asda store being built at former Cheylesmore pub site

TRADERS have won a court battle to overturn planning permission for an Asda supermarket at the site of the former Cheylesmore pub in Coventry.

Cheylesmore traders were successful in a judicial review against Coventry City Council planning committee’s approval for an Asda store on the site of the former Cheylesmore pub.

More than 600 residents had petitioned for a community centre instead, after the pub, in Daventry Road, was burned down.

Asda was granted planning permission in January on the casting vote of planning committee chairman, Coun Kevin Maton, after the crucial vote was tied.

Residents also had their own planning application granted for a new community centre which would include a library, fitness studio and pre-school.

The judicial review was brought by traders including Joe Richards, who has a fruit and vegetable shop in Daventry Road.

Asda bought the former pub site and residents feared building a store there would force local independent stores to close.

Coun Maton claimed the court judgement, a draft of which has been disclosed to both parties, was based on an error in the format of words on a council letter sent to residents informing them of the planning committee’s decision.

It is understood the decision notice failed to explain to residents the reasons for planning consent.

Coun Maton said the judgment would not prevent Asda submitting another planning application.

Legal costs incurred by Coventry City Council are not yet known, but Coun Maton said the council had decided not to mount a legal challenge in order to minimise any costs.

He said: “This judicial review was brought based in respect of a minor administrative technicality relating to the format and wording of the planning decision notice that we issued following our approval.

“It was nothing to do with the merits of the Asda proposal or with how planning committee reached its decision to approve their application.

“Our decision was not illegal or unlawful, simply that the judge has decided that we issued the decision in an inappropriate configuration.

“Indeed the same format was used for our decision to approve the community centre application on the same site in Cheylesmore and this could have been subject to a legal challenge too.”

Mike Ashworth, of Cecily Road, Cheylesmore, who campaigned for a community centre, said residents would be prepared to fight again if Asda lodged another application.

He said: “We don’t need an Asda. There’s an Asda just a mile up the road. If Asda opened in Cheylesmore it would be the nail in the coffin for the parade of shops in Cheylesmore.”

[dutchman]

What a waste of time and money. That is a perfect spot for a small local supermarket.

Some people don't agree Flapdoodle:

Cheylesmore residents vow to fight new plans for Asda at former pub site

CHEYLESMORE residents and traders have vowed to fight on after Asda confirmed it is to re-apply for planning permission to build a store on a former pub site.

It follows a judicial review overturning previous planning permission for the site of the former Cheylesmore pub, which was destroyed by fire.

Cheylesmore Conservative councillor Kevin Foster pledged the community would again be mobilised against the plans in the new year.

The Telegraph reported last week traders on the Daventry Road parade of shops opposite – who say their businesses would be threatened – successfully overturned Coventry City Council’s planning consent for Asda at a judicial review – on a technicality.

A judge quashed January’s planning consent because the council’s planning department had failed to comply with rules requiring it to explain the reasons for the decision in notices sent to Cheylesmore residents.

Asda spokesman Oliver Jones confirmed it will submit another application on the site it owns, although no timescale was given.

He added: “We hope they come to the same conclusion.”

Councillor Foster said: “The application last year was opposed by a significant number of residents, and a survey expressed a strong preference for a community centre at the site. We will now repeat that survey early in the new year, and will be guided by that.”

The judicial review was brought by traders including Joe Richards, who has a fruit and vegetable shop in Daventry Road.

Mike Ashworth, of Cecily Road, Cheylesmore, who was among campaigners calling for a community centre, has vowed to fight on, saying an Asda in Cheylesmore would be “the nail in the coffin” for local independent shops.

More than 600 residents had petitioned for a community centre instead.

Asda was granted planning permission in January on the casting vote of planning committee chairman, Coun Kevin Maton, after the crucial vote was tied.

Residents also had their own planning application granted for a new community centre which would include a library, fitness studio and pre-school.

Coun Maton admitted numerous previous decision notices for other planning decisions had been sent out using the wrong form of words, including the decision on planning consent for a community centre.

He said they would not be open to High Court challenge because deadlines would have expired.

He said the council was now complying with the rules.

[dutchman]

Asda given go-ahead to build new store on site of former Cheylesmore pub



Asda has been given permission to build a new store at the site of a former Coventry pub.

But the supermarket chain must make a financial contribution to community facilities in the area, and fund a £7,500 pedestrian crossing.

The blueprint was approved by the city council’s planning committee today.

Many residents and traders had opposed the plans on the site of The Cheylesmore, in Daventry Road.

A survey of 3,600 residents showed two-thirds wanted a community centre there instead.

The pub closed down several years ago and was boarded up before it was torched by arsonists and demolished.