As reported in the Gazette and our Facebook page the proposed development at the ARLA has stalled.
At an oral hearing Sainsbury’s won the right to have a judical review over Hillingdon’s planning decision which will both delay the development and bring our local council, potentially, a hefty legal bill.
We will bring you more news as and when it happens!
Full judgement attached please click here for the ARLA Sainsbury’s Citygrove Judgement in full.
Good Morning, I have lived in South Ruislip for the past 15 years where we appear to have more and more unused property which is getting to be a little concerning to say the least. I am aware of the city grove development and the challenges faced by Sainsbury which is not ideal as was looking forward to the development which has so much potential for the area, however I guess I got a bit lost when I heard that the old Focus and Land of Leather site is not part of the old dairy development. When making enquires I was informed that any of the following could be moving into the site, A Smyth's Toy Store, A night club and a Aldi. I haven't seen anything come through my door with regards to this and surely as a resident we should be informed of what is being attracted to the area specifically if a night club is planned. Could you please confirm if know what is planned for the old Focus/Land of Leather site as this is concerning that it is not part of the old dairy development and anything could end up in there. Kind regards, A Concerned Resident.
Good question.
You are quite right it is a separate site.
However the fate of that site is firmly tied with the ARLA development. Provided the ARLA site goes ahead the Focus/Land of Leather site becomes more valuable to the owners (AVIVA) because of the expected footfall the ARLA development brings.
Latest planning requests show requests for retail variations on planning rather than activity such as nightclubs, but these are registered from July last year and are still undecided, although have recently been amended (03/03/2015) assuming that the Citygrove development goes ahead.
Hearsay indicates Aldi and a B&M Homestore, but you can appreciate that who goes in there under existing planning classes is not something we can lobby on or will necessarily be aware of.
If we saw a planning request for a nightclub we would be most vocal about it! I think this unlikely given the owners have put in these retail variations.
Better quality retail units being attracted to this site is another reason for supporting Sainsbury’s restriction of competition in the area by calling for a Judicial Review of the ARLA development.
After the last letter to Sainsbury’s , South Ruislip Residents Association Vice-Chairman Sid Jackson received a generic reply:
“23rd January 2015
Dear Mr Jackson
Thank you for your email regarding South Ruislip and the Arla Foods scheme.
As you know the former dairy site has had a long and uncertain history – stretching back to the last decade – and was refused planning permission in February 2014.
While Citygrove subsequently secured a planning permission on the former dairy site, we believe there are genuine grounds for a legal challenge.
The Council failed to address a number of crucial policy areas in reaching their decision. These include misrepresenting National Retail Policy, failing to take account of the differences between the previous refusal and the new proposal, and the necessary financial evidence to justify the level of affordable housing.
As a result we requested that Hillingdon Council take the planning application back to committee in order to interrogate these areas in more detail but unfortunately they declined.
We will be writing to the Council asking them to rectify their mistakes. Depending on their response we will be challenging London Borough of Hillingdon’s decision to approve the scheme through legal action.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact our Head of Property
Communications David Mills on 07900 709393 or email david.mills@sainsburys.co.uk
Yours sincerely
Dean Clegg”
Disappointed with a generic response Sid wrote back…
“Dear Ms Torincsi
Many thanks for acknowledging receipt of my letter.
It is a shame that Mr Coupe did not see fit to respond in person, but passed it to properties who have issued a pre written statement.
No one at Sainsbury,s seems to want to or care about responding to the serious concerns of our residents.
It seems that your company are only interested in the revenue account with customers a communities coming a poor second.
Please show this to Mr Coupe, if he is at all interested in other people’s concerns with respect how Sainsbury,s conduct their business.
Regards
Sid Jackson”
To which Mr Coupe replied…
On 28 Jan 2015, at 16:06, Mike Coupe <Mike.Coupe@sainsburys.co.uk> wrote:
“Dear Mr Jackson
Thank you for your email regarding South Ruislip and the future of the Arla Foods scheme.
Whilst I understand your concerns it is important to note that we have not yet carried out any action which would delay Citygrove’s ability to begin works on the site. However we believe there are serious flaws in the way Hillingdon Council made its decision to grant planning permission for the scheme which I will outline below. Citygrove’s application was refused planning permission in April 2014 by Hillingdon Council, as the development would have an unacceptable impact on retail centres across Hillingdon and surrounding boroughs such as Harrow. At that time, the Council also decided that the scheme was not in keeping with their Local Plan, which provides a guide for future development in the Borough.
Whilst Citygrove subsequently secured a planning permission in December 2014 we believe Hillingdon Council failed to address a number of crucial policy areas and did not provide adequate justification for overturning the April decision to refuse the first planning application. Our concerns are:
Before the permission was granted we requested that Hillingdon Council take the planning application back to committee in order to address these issues properly but unfortunately they declined. We have now written to them giving them a further opportunity to review their decision.
In the meantime I want to reassure you that we remain committed to South Ruislip where we have been trading for 25 years. We will continue to serve our customers whilst we consider our next options, including a possible legal challenge.
We are proud of our contribution to the local economy – from being a good employer generating local jobs across the Borough (we currently employ over 750 colleagues in Hillingdon across five stores), to paying our fair share of taxes and business rates locally. We play a prominent role in the local community supporting charities, schools and businesses. Since 2005 we have donated over £1.1million worth of sports and cooking equipment to schools and community groups across Hillingdon through our Active Kids scheme. Each year customers and colleagues in our stores vote for their local charity partner who they then support – last year our store raised over £2,000 for Age UK Hillingdon, working together on a variety of fundraising from book sales, the sale of trolley coins and clothing collection days.
I appreciate you taking the time to write to me and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact our Head of Property Communications, David Mills, on 07900 709393 or email david.mills@sainsburys.co.uk.
Yours sincerely
Mike Coupe
Mike Coupe, CEO
Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd | 33 Holborn, London | EC1N 2HT
mike.coupe@sainsburys.co.uk<mailto:mike.coupe@sainsburys.co.uk”
To which Sid has responded;
“Dear Mr Coupe
Many thanks for note, whilst it lists your concerns in pure terms if looked at in wider terms my observations would be-
The NPPF is a framework therefore used as guidance not for strict adherence to.
If the framework were followed to the letter, only your store would be in the town centre with no other alternative site. This then would give a total monopoly to you, with no further opportunity to provide additional outlets in South Ruislip.
Also when looking at our area the distance from your store to the far end of the ARLA site is less than a quarter of the length of Uxbridge high street which is considered to be all town centre.
We are aware of your contribution to our community, that is why we believe it would be a great shame to spoil all that by continuing with this unpopular course of action.
Regards
Sid Jackson “
In which case this piece of radio journalism recorded, prepared and introduced by local Sound Editor Robin Hollings will be of interest…..
Enjoy!
At the Quarterly meeting last night Sid Jackson promised to send a letter outlining our objection and frustration with Sainsbury’s intention to launch a Judicial Review again the ARLA development which will include an ASDA supermarket.
This he has done.
The letter can be found here: Sainsburys letter January 2015
We encourage residents to write letters of objection to Sainsbury’s to let them know their feelings. Would love to know your feelings on this on our Facebook page.
A write-up on the meeting last night can be found just here in the online version of the Gazette.
It looks likely that Sainsbury will launch a judicial review which will cause delays in the building of the development at the ARLA site . Vice-Chair Sid Jackson has commented on this.
Plenty to discuss at the next quarterly meeting next Wednesday! How do we respond? Come and have your say.
One key issue for us in South Ruislip at the moment is the building on the ARLA site. The majority of the residents, local councillors and the committee of the SRRA are in favour of the new shopping facilities and housing being built. There are plans for a new supermarket, ASDA, a cinema, housing and family restaurants.
Those against speak in particular of the concerns with traffic. Our argument is that there will be more traffic anyway and counter peak traffic won’t be as detrimental as traffic at peaks such as if the site was all housing. Besides we like the idea of competition with Sainsburys. If you have a point of view on this issue you are always welcome to leave a comment below or attend the planning meeting when it takes place or write to your councillors with your viewpoint.
The consultation process has finished now, but details of the plan can be found here on Hillingdon’s planning portal.
A decision is due by 05/08/2014, but often they take longer subject to the timing of the next available major planning committee meeting.
The developers website can be found just here.
