Storrington Waitrose bus turning circle plans '˜illogical'

'˜Illogical' plans to alter the road layout near Waitrose's Storrington store have been criticised by councillors.
DM1840880a.jpg. Bus turning circle in Storrington is to be changed. Photo by Derek Martin Photography. SUS-181004-173035008DM1840880a.jpg. Bus turning circle in Storrington is to be changed. Photo by Derek Martin Photography. SUS-181004-173035008
DM1840880a.jpg. Bus turning circle in Storrington is to be changed. Photo by Derek Martin Photography. SUS-181004-173035008

The supermarket giant is looking to make alterations to the bus turning circle in Old Mill Drive.

According to its agents this is the ‘first phase’ of the site’s wider development, following Waitrose’s decision to drop expansion plans for a larger store on the same site.

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However residents have opposed the changes to the turning circle, arguing that forcing buses to make tighter U-turns in a heavily pedestrianised area would be a ‘major safety issue’.

The supermarket has appealed to the planning inspectorate on the grounds of non-determination of its proposals by Horsham District Council.

Members of the council’s Planning Committee South agreed to inform the planning inspector that it would be minded to approve the application subject to appropriate conditions when they met on Tuesday (April 17).

One of these conditions was that changes to the bus circle should not be carried out until a scheme for the comprehensive redevelopment of the wider site has been submitted to and then approved by the council.

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Ray Dawe, leader of the council, felt the proposed course of action ‘shows willing on our part’.

He added: “To simply reject it will cause more delay and gets us nowhere.”

He continued: “We can’t leave that section of the village boarded up much longer. We need to move on.”

Mr Dawe (Con, Chantry) urged Waitrose to sit down with the council to discuss a ‘comprehensive solution for the village’, adding: “We want to take a positive approach to discussions.”

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Anna Worthington-Leese, chair of Storrington and Sullington Parish Council, explained how they had accepted the disadvantages brought about by changes to the bus turning circle when a larger Waitrose store had been proposed.

But she described how Waitrose now wanted to develop the area originally sold to it by West Sussex County Council to facilitate the larger store ‘purely for financial purposes’.

In the parish council’s opinion the changes would create ‘future hazards for pedestrians’.

Jim Sanson (Con, Chantry) said: “This is illogical, it’s putting the cart before the horse.”

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Philip Circus (Con, Chanctonbury) added: “The fact is this is truly a hidden agenda because the application it seems to me makes absolutely no sense whatsoever as we don’t know what is being proposed.

“If we do not know what is being proposed and Waitrose do not know what is being proposed, why would we want to make the highways changes?”

He continued: “This is really quite one of the oddest applications we have had in front of us.”

Neither Waitrose nor its agents spoke at the meeting.

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