One of Plympton’s biggest land eyesores is set to be rejuvenated after the city’s planning committee approved an application to redevelop the Errill Retail Park site.
This will see a new Home Bargains store where Buyology used to be and a new builders merchants on the former Allied Carpets site. The old Homemaker building will be demolished.
After an 83 minute meeting at which it was the only application to be considered, councillors voted by eight votes to three to approve the application with some minor modifications and further consultation with the planning Chair, Vice Chair, Plympton Erle and St Mary Ward councillors and opposition planning leads on certain discharge points to the development – such as volume of EV charging points and tree screening at the Eastern edge of the site.
One of the thorniest issues for the committee was the loss of the potential opportunity for housing. The site had been earmarked in the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan as a plot to accommodate 60 houses.
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The committee heard that the site had been used for retail purposes since the 1980s, before two units previously used by Allied Carpets and Plymco Homemaker became disused and fell into a state of disrepair. The remaining unit was vacated by Buyology earlier this year when their lease came to an end, leaving the entire site unoccupied
The meeting also heard that in 2013 planning permission had been granted for a Morrisons store there, but this never came to fruition and that planning permission had since lapsed, although it was felt that later developments by Lidl and Aldi in Plympton had to an extent satisfied the shopping need previously identified by Morrisons.
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The meeting also heard that as things currently stood with planning consents on the site there was nothing stopping all three currently disused units being brought back into use with no restriction on the type of goods which could be sold there.
Councillors were informed that there needed to be good reason to deviate from the Joint Local Plan, but that there had been changes since it was formulated, such as the climate emergency declaration and the current overall economic context.
The planning committee was informed that the current units were damaged, present a poor image to local residents and that a ward councillor had expressed safety concerns over the state of the units.
Earlier this year the front of the old Allied Carpets building blew off in a storm and became a magnet for local children to explore the inside of the exposed building.
The redevelopment is expected to lead to 190 FTE jobs and have minimal impact on other businesses in Plympton.
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Adrian Fox, agent for the applicant, T.J. Morris (the parent company of Home Bargains) told the meeting that his client was a leading discount retailer not currently represented in Plymouth, that there was currently no positive economic or social contribution arising from the site and that it was prone to vandalism and trespassing.
By contrast, the proposal, if approved, would lead to 335 construction jobs, increase business rates revenue, improve consumer choice and improve the local landscape as well as removing the dangers of the current disrepair as highlighted by a ward councillor.
Members of the committee were informed there would be three new pedestrian crossings on the developed site, 177 car parking spaces, with 20 for disabled and parent with children parking. There would be 185 metres of new hedgerow and a net increase of 30 trees and new solar panels on the roof of unit A, thus improving the biodiversity of the site.
Officers explained that although the site had been earmarked for housing in 2019, this site was felt to be one of the more tricky in the Joint Local Plan to deliver for housing and it was not due to be part of the immediate housing delivery plans until 2030-31.
It is not part of the immediate five year housing delivery plan for which there is currently a surplus of available land, so the loss of a site for 60 homes was ‘not crucial’ to Plymouth’s ability to meet future housing needs.
Cllr Bill Stevens was not especially convinced by the explanations given and asked why the site had been earmarked for housing in the first place if this was considered a challenging site for delivering housing. He was told that originally due to ‘retail creep’ along Plymouth Road it was desirable to have a housing balance. This site was felt suitable for housing as it is on a bus route, close to local schools and also shops. However, no developer has come forward with a proposal for housing on the site.
Cllr Dylan Tippetts asked if the council had thought about buying the land for its own delivery of social housing. He was informed that the land owner had been approached about selling the site to the council but was not interested and that the land owner did not agree with the earmarking of the site for housing
Cllr Stevens also suggested a requirement for ‘net zero’ would point towards using the site for dwellings rather than retail. He was reminded current consents on the site would allow all three units to be brought back into retail use ‘as is’ and that the proposed redevelopment, which would see less retail floor space at the site, was likely to lead to reduced journeys than if all three units came back into retail use.
Cllr Watkins was concerned that no end user for the builders yard, which was proposed for the eastern end of the site, had yet been firmed up. She was told there was some interest, but as yet nothing firm.
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Cllr Rebecca Smith was concerned that the number of EV charging points for the site had not been sufficiently finalised and that solar panels were only being proposed on the roof of one of the new buildings rather than both.
Cllr Ian Darcy was concerned about the proposed trading hours as this site was closer to domestic dwellings than Lidl. He introduced an amendment, which was adopted, to restrict these down by an hour to 7am to 10pm. He also felt an identified gap in trees could cause vehicle lights to intrude on nearby residential properties.
After detailed consideration however the Home Bargains application was approved on a majority vote, with the stated caveats. The applicant now has three years to start the redevelopment, although it is anticipated given the applicant’s enthusiasm it will be brought to fruition much earlier.
(Story courtesy of the Plympton Podcast)
