South Grove Morrisons' Plans

Morrisons Plans

From Katy Andrews:

Urgent!

So, in case you're not aware of it, there are plans to build the UK's largest Morrisons (far bigger than most out of town supermarkets) right in the heart of Walthamstow. Worse, it's a cycling and walking disaster currently.

Please please please object ALL of you, before Friday! And tell your friends to do so also!

To object please email sonia.malcolm@walthamforest.gov.uk re: application 2013/1252 - South Grove

See here for details and a download link for the PDF of the plans: http://fighttheheight.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/mahoosive-south-grove-planning.html

And pasted below are the key points I'm choosing to make - but please do make them your own!

Re: application 2013/1252

Dear sir/madam,

I'm writing to object to the proposed South Grove planning application on numerous grounds.

1. The size of the supermarket
Proposed Morrison's supermarket is 73,000 square feet. The biggest Morrison's in the entire UK. Second largest, April 2013, was 49,000 square feet (Leamington Spa). That's far bigger than most "out of town" supermarkets.
This is then joined by nearly 60,000 square feet of a second "non-food" retail tenant.
Both of these shops are completely out of keeping with all other local retail opportunities.
Will deliver the opposite of regeneration for the struggling High Street.
The area action plan for this site recommends between 54,000 and 75,000 square feet total. The site is currently planned to double that.

2. Placement of the car park
Ground floor car park is cheaper for developer than to dig an underground car park.
But frontage onto the street is hostile – similar to rear of Sainsbury's on Selbourne Road.
Underground car park would make for a better, more active frontage rather than development being an inward-looking fortress (where shoppers are discouraged to leave.
Underground car park would allow the developers to either reduce height and massing of development or include more flats without increasing height and massing.

3. Size of car park
Underground car park would incentivise developers to cut number of parking spaces planned - 321
321 spaces would mean either diverting 250+ shoppers from other stores in the nearby area every hour at peak times, or adding 250+ vehicle movements every hour to our roads at peak times – several thousand a day.
If customer base local, 250+ shoppers hourly taken from the already underused Sainsbury's and The Mall car parks. We have enough car parking space and should be encouraging other transport. We have good transport links. Stealing shoppers from other nearby stores and the market will result in the opposite of regeneration.
If customer base not local, 250+ extra car movements per hour in peak times on already-congested roads, as well as, of course, articulated lorries for deliveries.
Site between four already heavily used and congested roads – Markhouse Road, Palmerston Road, Selbourne Road and St James Street.
Site also in middle of proposed current bid to TfL to turn Walthamstow into a "mini Holland".
Application could jeopardise Waltham Forest's chance to unlock millions of pounds of regeneration money. How could TfL approve Walthamstow mini-Holland scheme when, at the same time, LBWF approves a planning application to drive hundreds of extra cars onto the very same roads it proposes to calm?

4. Pedestrian and cycling links
Application could hardly do more to discourage users of the supermarket to "stray" beyond site itself – a serious threat to Walthamstow market and High Street retail.
The proposed improvements to the pedestrian link to St James Street are minimal, as are proposed improvements from South Grove to Selbourne Road and Palmerston Road.
Also access to site proposed to be four lanes that pedestrians or cyclists would have to cross.
This is a scheme designed to be driven to and from and not left in the meantime.

5. Cycle parking
There is no formal space given for cycle parking for shoppers at the ground floor – just a vague promise to include some. Cycle parking should be set at least minimum called for in policy.
Cycle parking for residential is accessed via lift to garden level. Residents living in scheme with bikes will need to carry bike up in lift to garden level, get out, park bikes in communal shed, then get back in lift to go to flat.
Better would be secure bike parking on ground floor or on each floor of residential blocks.
Cycle parking is figleaf to deeply cycling-hostile development.

6. Block layout
The arrangement of the residential towers is of very low quality – leaving most (162) of the flats to be single-aspect, with many directly facing neighbours and residents' own garden will be in shadow most of winter.
Low quality design approach to housing element of scheme.