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Sainsbury’s submits plans for Mercure hotel site in Wetherby
SAINSBURY’S supermarket have ended speculation about their plans for Wetherby by submitting final proposals for a store at the entrance to the town.
The revised plans - which Sainsbury’s say are “significant” - were submitted to Leeds City Council last Thursday after months of interest in the site of the Mercure Hotel, formerly the Ramada Jarvis.
The proposed store is smaller than the original proposal - reduced from 30,000 sq ft to 25,000 sq ft in size, and includes the relocation of the customer cafe to the ground floor, allowing the height of the building to be reduced.
Also included are 240 parking spaces and pedestrian access to the site via Micklethwaite Grove, connecting the store to the town centre.
Jo Hawley, Regional Development Executive for Sainsbury’s, said: “We received a huge amount of feedback from the public consultation, which we have tried to incorporate into these final plans.
The spokesman continued: “The plans represent a significant investment in Wetherby, and the changes we have made show our commitment to working with residents, traders and other stakeholders in Wetherby to ensure a new Sainsbury’s store is of genuine benefit to the whole community.
“By reducing the size of the store, we have been able lower the height of the building, retain more trees and address some of the local traders’ concerns that the store was “too big”.
“We still firmly believe that a new foodstore in Wetherby would benefit the town, and our consultation found that many people currently shop away from Wetherby, including other Sainsbury’s stores in Harrogate and Leeds.
“Should the plans be approved, the new store could create around 150 new jobs.”
Sainsbury’s Local store on Crossley Street will also remain open.
The final decision on the application will be made by councillors in the coming months, with a decision expected in 13 weeks at the latest.
Wetherby ward councillor John Procter said he was “extremely disappointed” with the plans.
“There are no fundamental changes to the plans at all,” he said.
“After months of public consultation and concerns raised by residents and shop traders I can only say that the people of Wetherby have had their time wasted.”
Shop trader Nish Kanabar, owner of Castlegate Post Office and Castlegate Toys, said the revised plans make no difference to those opposing a supermarket store in Wetherby.
“This does not make any difference to us as shop traders.
“In my opinion they have just amended the plans slightly and nothing has changed at all.
“We will still object to the proposal.
“My main priority now is just to concentrate on our own business and then continue working hard in the town to promote local business.”
Anyone who would like to comment or view the proposals can do by clicking here
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Friday 25 May 2012
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Comments
There are 11 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
pat king
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 06:33 PMweb do not need a Sainburys store in wetherby.there is a store in harrogate a 10min car drive away.if ther e is a store built at wetherby then the harrogate store will losetrade. people can only spend their money at one place.wetherby town centre will become like every other market town with empty shops.ipeople will shop at sainburys andforget about local shops.if the local sainburys in crossley street provided more selection then we would not need a big store. the jobs that will be provided is aj joke as they forget that more shopswill close in the centre.therefore the jobs created will be far less.sainbury stores are for the well off peopleas their prices are not very competetive for the normal shopping people of wetherby.i think Mercure hotel have let the people of wetherby down.they have played a dirty trick as what ever the outcome is then they will receive a good payout.
willo73
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 01:15 PMWetherby has a population of 16,022. To have one supermarket doesn't make sense. On top of that there are the surrounding villages who also don't have a supermarket meaning lots of travelling shoppers. Imagine the difference just an extra 10% of footfall could do in Wetherby.
Paul F
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 10:23 AMInteresting feedback highlighting the difficult nature of planning decisions. Do you rely on studies undertaken - based on reality and experiences in a number of locations - which demonstrate that national supermarkets adversely impact local communities or hope that individuals who don't currently use the local facilities will change their minds and use new facilities built out-of-town? In respect of reality, these are the studies rather than relying on hope whilst on the subject of Tescos in Boston Spa and a comment on the article, no it doesn't already exist.
dog cap
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 02:49 PMpaul F. Stop looking at studies and playing the statistics game. Lies, more lies and statistics. Look at reality. look at the postings ofwillo73. This is reality. If local shops only keep office hours, then they will suffer. They need to be open when shoppers have finished work and want to shop. mmm
willo73
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 01:52 PMQuite the opposite Paul F - as I've said previously on this subject, I support local businesses when I can. In fact, the opening of a new supermarket will further increase my custom in local shops as I won't be doing all my shopping in Leeds. I am looking forward to the day I can go to a supermarket in my home town, make use of the local shops rather than having to travel to Harrogate, York or Leeds like we currently do. I can only see a new supermarket in the right part of town where Sainsburys propose to build doing good. The customers won't be driving through, will encourage more footfall in the town and subsequently could give Wetherby the chance to become a thriving little market town helping other shops survive other than the charity ones! Only a supermarket in the right place would do this, I don't feel a supermarket up Sandbeck would open the opportunities for Wetherby town centre but one on the Ramada site would as it is so close to the town and easy to walk. Who knows - it may even lead to a better marketfarmers market. The future could be really bright for Wetherby with the right backing
willo73
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 01:50 PMQuite the opposite Paul F - as I've said previously on this subject, I support local businesses when I can. In fact, the opening of a new supermarket will further increase my custom in local shops as I won't be doing all my shopping in Leeds. I am looking forward to the day I can go to a supermarket in my home town, make use of the local shops rather than having to travel to Harrogate, York or Leeds like we currently do. I can only see a new supermarket in the right part of town where Sainsburys propose to build doing good. The customers won't be driving through, will encourage more footfall in the town and subsequently could give Wetherby the chance to become a thriving little market town helping other shops survive other than the charity ones! Only a supermarket in the right place would do this, I don't feel a supermarket up Sandbeck would open the opportunities for Wetherby town centre but one on the Ramada site would as it is so close to the town and easy to walk. Who knows - it may even lead to a better marketfarmers market. The future could be really bright for Wetherby with the right backing
willo73
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 01:49 PMQuite the opposite Paul F - as I've said previously on this subject, I support local businesses when I can. In fact, the opening of a new supermarket will further increase my custom in local shops as I won't be doing all my shopping in Leeds. I am looking forward to the day I can go to a supermarket in my home town, make use of the local shops rather than having to travel to Harrogate, York or Leeds like we currently do. I can only see a new supermarket in the right part of town where Sainsburys propose to build doing good. The customers won't be driving through, will encourage more footfall in the town and subsequently could give Wetherby the chance to become a thriving little market town helping other shops survive other than the charity ones! Only a supermarket in the right place would do this, I don't feel a supermarket up Sandbeck would open the opportunities for Wetherby town centre but one on the Ramada site would as it is so close to the town and easy to walk. Who knows - it may even lead to a better marketfarmers market. The future could be really bright for Wetherby with the right backing
Paul F
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 03:46 PMDisappointed and frustrated by the comments below - especially those who care so little about the local economy and community. As supported by many studies, most notably the Campaign for Rural England, supermarkets such as Sainsburys do little for the local economy - removing more jobs than those created even before the level and largely part time nature of the jobs being created is considered. Local, individually owned shops will suffer resulting in empty units in the centre whilst I see no consideration in the plans for the adverse impact upon traffic affecting both user and non-users of any new facilities alike. A similar application was sucessfully blocked in Todmorden last summer and I hope that, with the support of the local community, shop keepers and local press, this application will also be blocked.
paul1
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 03:43 PMI also bypass weatherby to shop at other supermarkets. If you want a more vibrant town then get this built and lets have more choice. The main thrust of competition for a new Sainsbury's is Morrisons not the smaller shops. I used to go into many of the small shops before and will do so again once I have a better choice of supermarket and more parking facilities. local traders tend to compete on customer service not price- only the ones with poor levels of customer service need fear another supermarket. You can't get on the Widerness car park during the week for long stay workers using it as a park and ride scheme. Again driving shoppers out of Wetherby. The question of saturation by supermarkets ie Asda and Tescos plans regarding wetherby is however something to be concerned about.
willo73
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 01:23 PMCurrently I shop every day in Leeds City Centre where I work. I couldn't bear having to go to Morrisons as a one off let alone to do a weekly shop , don't want to travel through to Harrogate every weekend therefore I end up food shopping daily Monday to Friday. Giving Wetherby a decent supermarket will mean less commuting for those who travel, bring trade into the town rather than passing through it in their cars and meet the needs of residents much more than Morrisons ever can. The standard of goods sold in Morrisons is far less than the standard of other major supermarkets. Bring Sainsburys to Wetherby and give something to the locals and shop keepers alike.
dog cap
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 11:44 AMComment removed by moderator
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