Council Reports for Marple Area Committee

[Harry]

So the possibility emerges of a worst-case scenario:

1.   Hibbert lane is rejected, on the grounds that the existence of the Chadwick Street scheme causes it to fail the 'sequential test' for edge-of-centre schemes.  
2.   By 2018, Kirkland have failed to find a supermarket chain which is interested, because the high costs of construction have driven up the rents to a level which is commercially unviable.  
3.   Nothing happens at Chadwick Street or at Hibbert lane, and our kids don't get their shiny new college.  

As an alternative:

3. As CAMSFC can't afford the running costs of Hibbert Lane they are forced to sell the land for residential development. Kirkland buy the land for £4M and build an estate of 200 small 'affordable' homes. Kirkland then quietly drop the idea of building on Chadwick Street. The college has to downsize its ambitions for Marple and our kids have reduced options for education locally.

[wheels]

But Dave you would not expect at this stage to know who any partner might be for the Kirkland development only when planning is approved would there be any serious marketing of the site on their behalf. Its unreasonable to expect them to do much prior to planning being agreed.

Nor is who the partner is a planning issue thus I don't think we have any right to know. We the public don't have a  veto on certain partners. You get what your given as far as the actual store goes.

[Dave]

It is indeed a foregone conclusion.  But a closer reading of the supporting papers for the Chadwick Street scheme underlines a number of shortcomings and 'unknowns' in this proposal.

1.   The council's own consultants estimate a delay of up to five years before the site can be cleared, the sorting office relocated, and the scheme be 'shovel ready'. 
2.   There is no supermarket signed up, and no evidence of serious interest by any supermarket chain.
3.   Chadwick Street is a multi-level scheme on steeply sloping site - the fall is 5m east to west, and 7m south to north.  The construction will therefore be costly, and in addition, there are a number of other expensive features, including a rotating turntable for delivery vehicles. 

So the possibility emerges of a worst-case scenario:

1.   Hibbert lane is rejected, on the grounds that the existence of the Chadwick Street scheme causes it to fail the 'sequential test' for edge-of-centre schemes. 
2.   By 2018, Kirkland have failed to find a supermarket chain which is interested, because the high costs of construction have driven up the rents to a level which is commercially unviable. 
3.   Nothing happens at Chadwick Street or at Hibbert lane, and our kids don't get their shiny new college.   

Even if Kirkland succeed in finding a tenant, the fact that we don't know who it might be is deeply unsatisfactory.  The joint applicants at Hibbert lane are Asda and Camsfc - what you see is what you get.  But down the road at Chadwick Street, we only have these shadowy developers.  Will it be an Aldi?  Or a Waitrose?  Who knows - but if it's either of those, then you can be sure that most of us will just carry on driving to Hazel Grove, Bredbury and Whaley Bridge to do our shopping.   

[wheels]

The meeting will only refer the issue to the Planning Committe so this is only a box to be ticked, there is no value in anyone attending the meeting, we already know the outcome.

[Dave]

Interesting stuff - thanks Admin.  I can't claim to have read all of it, and indeed, there's stuff about the habitats of pipistrelle bats, natterjack toads and great-crested newts that can safely be passed over.  

Overall, though, it looks like exactly what we have been expecting - the council steering its committees towards approval of Chadwick Street and rejection of Hibbert Lane, largely on the grounds that Hibbert Lane fails the 'sequential test' which is applied to 'edge of centre' schemes.  

Amid all the pages of bumf, though, there are some interesting nuggets, and one of them is an estimate of how much we residents of Marple currently spend at supermarkets outside Marple:  

the Sainsbury's store in Hazel Grove (£6.8m);
the out-of-centre Morrisons at Bredbury (£5.5m);
the Tesco store at Whaley Bridge (£5.2m);
the Tesco store at Wren Nest Road in Glossop (£2.6m);
the out-of-centre Tesco store at Tivot Way (£2.4m);
the ASDA store in Stockport (£1.7m);
the ASDA store in Hyde (£1.6m); and
the Sainsbury's store in Stockport (£1.1m).

That adds up to nearly £27 million which we spend every year at these supermarkets.  Compare that with the *'convenience goods' turnover of the two existing Marple supermarkets and the local shops, which is put at £21.8 million.

* Definition of convenience goods: widely distributed and relatively inexpensive goods which are purchased frequently and with minimum of effort, such as gasoline (petrol), newspapers, and most grocery items

[admin]

The agenda and reports for the special Marple Area Committee at Marple Cricket Club on Wednesday 6th February that will consider the Hibbert/Buxton Lane and the Chadwick Street planning applications are now published on the council web site here:

http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=138&MId=5419&Ver=4

The reports are under items 5(a) and 5(b) and are 97 and 155 pages long respectively, so make sure you are sitting comfortably!