Delivery Hours Extension at Caerleon Sainsbury’s Sparks Villagers’ Concerns

A plan to extend the delivery hours at the Sainsbury’s Local in Caerleon has reignited an old row over the shop’s impact on villagers.
A planning agent called the shop an “important community facility”, but one ward councillor for the village branded it an “inconvenience store” and said neighbours are fed up with noise, traffic and parking problems.
Cllr Jason Hughes told Newport City Council’s planning committee that residents had allegedly faced “10 years of ongoing issues”.
He acknowledged the shop had created jobs and has “friendly” staff, but said the plan to convert the old Angel pub was opposed by 1,700 people in 2013, and claimed people living nearby had since “suffered” from noisy deliveries and parking issues.
Extending the delivery times by an hour each morning, from Monday to Saturday, “will make it much worse”, he alleged.
Fellow ward councillor Stephen Cocks told the committee, on Wednesday, that “the lives of people living on Broadwell Court have changed enormously since the Sainsbury’s store opened”.
Neighbours have to contend with trucks backing into the road “with their reversing sirens”, and the “clanging of trolleys… when lorries are being loaded and unloaded”, he added.
Some 11 residents objected to the extension during a recent public consultation, concerned with “disruption to traffic flow”, noise levels, “youths hanging around” and claims of delivery vehicles making “dangerous” manoeuvres.
Cllr Cocks acknowledged the residents’ complaints may not all relate specifically to the question of extending delivery hours, but said neighbours’ “quality of life has been massively impacted”.
He also alleged Sainsbury’s had failed to comply with some of the conditions Newport City Council imposed when it originally granted planning permission for the shop – specifically around a yard management plan and parking provision.
Speaking in support of the extension, Sarah Daniels, planning agent at Alder King Property Consultants, said Sainsbury’s had applied to deliver “fresh produce” to its Caerleon store “just one hour earlier”, six days a week.
The amount of delivery vehicles visiting the site “will be unchanged”, she added, describing the shop as a “key community asset” for the village.
Several members of the committee were sympathetic to reports of the residents’ concerns, but noted the council’s planning officers had found no reason to refuse the extension.
“What we know is right conflicts with the planning regulations,” said Cllr John Reynolds.
Cllr Trevor Watkins asked whether Sainsbury’s had failed to meet its original planning conditions, and why the council hadn’t enforced them.
Andrew Ferguson, the council’s planning and development manager, said the original application for the shop was more than 10 years old – meaning the deadline for any enforcement action had passed.
“Officers don’t have the resources to go out and monitor every site”, he said, adding that the department relied on people coming forward with concerns.
But Mr Ferguson said council officers “haven’t had any complaints about this site” relating to parking or deliveries in that 10-year timeframe.
Approval of the extension would give council officers “a new trigger point” to enforce planning conditions, he added.
The committee went on to grant approval for the extension to the delivery hours.
Cllr Will Routley told the meeting that officers have “got to send a message that we are going to be all over this now” if there are any new complaints from residents.
Following the meeting, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We have been granted permission to receive deliveries of stock at our Caerleon Local store slightly earlier from Monday to Saturday. 
“The store is now serving more customers than ever and so we applied for the change to meet this increased demand. 
“Feedback from the local community is really important to us and we are taking this on board to ensure we are a good neighbour to nearby residents.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​