A plan to build a discount retailer supermarket and drive-thru coffee shop over one of the last fields separating a leading industrial estate from a historic market town has been recommended for approval, after developers claimed 30 full-time jobs would be created.
North Yorkshire Council planning officers have advised developer Morbaine’s ambition to build a 1,858sq m out of town foodstore, standalone cafe and 165 car parking spaces over a greenfield site off Bedale Road, Aiskew, “would provide local economic and social benefits to the community”.
Planning papers lodged by the developer ahead of a council meeting to consider the scheme on Thursday (March 14) state the “redevelopment” of the site would not only bring increased competition and choice for shoppers, but will also create new jobs for local people within the area.
The documents state the development would lead to a mixture of full and part-time positions, providing possibilities for all interested in gaining employment at the site yards from Leeming Bar Industrial Estate, to which many people commute to from significant distances.
An agent for Morbaine stated: “Development of this site will open it up and provide a connecting link between the housing to unite development and provide connectivity.
“The development of this site will create an attractive frontage and gateway to
the town, whilst providing valuable facilities for the local community.”
The firm has stated the development would see some residents stopping travelling further afield to do their weekly food shop.
The planning application follows Bedale councillors saying greater choice over food was needed in the area, with a convenience store near the proposed and a Morrisons convenience store, a small Coop supermarket and the Nisa store also stocking Coop products in the town centre.
Objecting to the proposal overall, Aiskew and Leeming Bar Council said it supported the supermarket element of the plan, particularly as it would bring employment opportunities for local people and describing it as “a much-needed asset for the area”.
However, it emphasised how all the parish councillors objected to the drive-thru cafe “as no one felt that this was needed”.
Responding to the proposal, some residents said the discount retaier would be “a great benefit to the community who are finding the household budgets through the cost of living crisis increasingly difficult to manage”, while others said it was in “a totally inappropriate location”.
Numerous residents have told the cafe was “not needed”.
One resident wrote: “We already have this facility just up the road. If people want to meet for coffee there are several outlets in Bedale which is not far away.”
Despite the concerns, in a report to councillors planning officers said the applicant had been able to demonstrate the development would not have significant or unacceptable impacts on the viability and vitality of town centres in the local and wider area.
The report concludes: “While the proposed drive-thru coffee shop lacks the social benefits of the proposed foodstore, it nevertheless provides some modest economic benefits to the local community, including job opportunities.
“Concerns regarding anti-social behaviour and amenity issues can be successfully mitigated and controlled through conditions, including limiting its
opening hours to that of the proposed foodstore.”
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