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| 76 Burnley Road |
A proposal to replace a vehicle repair workshop with a
Co-operative food store opposite the Burnley Road entrance to Dollis Hill
Station has divided local residents. Brent Council planners have recommended
rejection of the application:
In contrast to Brent Council's advocacy of the retails jobs
provided at the London Designer Outlet at Wembley Stadium, Planning Officers
state:
With regards to on-site employment, the Applicant has submitted information stating that there would be a net increase in employment on the site as a result of the proposal. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Employment Densities Guide (2010) sets out that Use Class B2 (General Industry) requires 36sqm floorspace per employee. This equates to a capacity, for the existing use, of approximately 8 employees, whereas the proposed retail store could create 20-25 jobs. It must be noted, however, that up to 20 of these employees for the retail unit are proposed to be ‘part time’ employees. Furthermore, your officers consider that the jobs associated with defined employment uses are more likely to be skilled jobs than those associated with a retail use. Therefore, whilst acknowledging there would be a net increase in employment on the site, your officers conclude that an employment use has a greater beneficial impact on employment, with higher skilled personnel with the potential of apprentice schemes, than the proposed retail use.
Petitions both for and against the proposal have been submitted as well as individual comments. The majority are against:
Against
35 comments
Petition Against - The second was an organised petition from 680 addresses with 992 signatures - including 175 signatures that did not have a full address. The objections are that the introduction of the local convenience store will damage the local shops and their business.
Your officers are also aware of a change.org petition against the proposal titled Help Protect Our Shops, with 103 objectors, on the grounds that the Council should support local community stores
For
5 commentsPetition For 1)- Petition consisting of approximately 95 names. Many of these did not have full addresses. The generic supporting reason was the positive addition of a convenience store on Burnley Road.Petition For 2) 5 individuals from 5 different addresses who support the application based on new jobs and groceries at fair prices.
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A number of councillors called in the proposal so that it would be decided by the Planning Committee rather than by officers and their reasons varied:
Councillor
Harrison
Date and Reason for Request
17/04/2016
Details of any representations received
We
understand that the Co-operative Group proposals will result in the employment
of 20-25 people with priority given to recruitment in the local area.
Name of Councillor
Councillor
Nerva
Date and Reason for Request
17/04/2016
Details of any representations received
We
understand that the Co-operative Group proposals will result in the employment
of 20-25 people with priority given to recruitment in the local area.
Name of Councillor
Councillor
Collier
Date and Reason for Request
18/04/2016
Details of any representations received
We
understand that the Co-operative Group proposals will result in the employment
of 20-25 people with priority given to recruitment in the local area.
Name of Councillor
Councillor
Shahzad
Date and Reason for Request
20/04/2016
Details of any representations received
Should be
heard at Committee so residences can expressed their views to the committee.
Name of Councillor
Councillor
Hirani
Date and Reason for Request
22/04/2016
Details of any representations received
Concerned
about the impact on local independent shops;
Concerns with the increase of
traffic and spaces for loading vehicles.
Name of Councillor Councillor Choudry
Date and
Reason for Request
22/04/2016
Details of any representations received
Concerned about the impact on local
independent shops;
Concerns with the increase of traffic and spaces for loading
vehicles.
Name of Councillor Councillor Patel
Date and Reason for Request 20/04/2016
Details
of any representations received
Request that the application be discussed and decided by the Planning
Committee only.
Any
person wishing to inspect the above papers should contact Robert Reeds,
Planning and Regeneration, Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ,
Tel. No. 020 8937 6726
14 comments:
'Planning Officers state:
With regards to on-site employment.....'
'Regards' is only plural when your sending yours. It's with regard, in regard etc. Difficult to have faith in their planning of cities when they have problems constructing a sentence.
P.E.Dant(Mrs)
Those local shops, especially the fabulous greengrocer, are independent and a real asset.They employ many people. One of the shops is an independent pharmacist and those are already under threat. John the greengrocer's shop has been there for well over forty years.
The part time jobs at the Co-op will be minimum wage zero hours, unlike the skilled garage workers. The Co-op is not cheap for shopping, either. I suppose it's a lesser evil than Tesco.
I do wonder why Collier, Nerva, Harrison et al are chipping in - not their ward, is it.
Not your ward either Alison is it? As you are so fond of telling us it's not the "real" Dollis Hill.
I'm not sure why you feel the need to be anonymous when I know exactly who you are, 11:55, but hey ho, that's your look out. I can understand Brent officers and other whistleblowers being justifiably worried enough not to use their names, but you've never been the shy retiring type, hm? But then, it's always easier to do the ad hominem thing when you don't reveal yourself.
As to the rest, I use the greengrocer and know him - have done for decades, since I used to commute from there. His niece is a friend of mine.
I rather miss the excellent butcher who used to be by the station and sold Cypriot bread. Daktyla.
As to the rest, what's odd about Nerva etc. is the nature of their comments. One might almost think they were being prompted, and given the real worries about the objectivity of the Planning Committee of late, that's disturbing.
I'm a troll
Fol de rol
I'm a troll
Fol de ro-ol
I'm a troll
Fol de rol
And I'll troll Alison (anonymously)
From the gutter
S.Talker (Ms ?)
I don't like that greengrocer. Everything I've ever bought from there has gone rotten within a day.
Thank you. Case closed. Shut him down. Bring in Tesco.
I thought Alison's stalker was one of the young male councillors? Or does she have more than one? Popular lady!
I wouldn't go as far as that, but it is worth knowing as a counterpoint to those who romanticise these "salt-of-the-earth" independent traders who sell sub-standard produce (and often pay below minimum wage too).
I've not had anything bad from John, but if ever I did, I'd take it back - and would be confident he'd replace it. It's a family business, so the wage thing in this instance is something of a canard.
I avoid Tesco like the proverbial. I'm rather a Lidl fan, but also use smaller places like the excellent Way to Save. Plus, the good bakeries and produce stalls in Cricklewood. My local mini mart does a small but excellent fresh vegetable selection, supplied by someone who's been doing it for decades. Their herbs and spices are both far better and much cheaper than the little pots of dried dust you get in Tesco and so on.
And our local chemist is way better than the chains - and again, often cheaper.
17:19 , my compliments on your poetry. ;)
19:41 - there's a couple of them, and they've distinct language patterns. I'm amused they feel threatened enough by Mrs Gobby here to post as they do.
I live round the corner from the site and have mixed views. But I'm not too wistful about the current shops as others clearly are. The chemist is protected, given it dispenses prescriptions and the supermarket will not. The newsagent has tried to sell up, most recently late last year. The off licence and grocer also own Icy nans Spicy and apparently leave the latter vacant to avoid competition moving in. Not great behaviour. The cafe is the best thing to happen in years and that leaves John the greengrocer. Rumour is that its days are numbered because once he's finished, so is the business. There is no family line wanting to inherit? I don't tend to use him much because as others have stated his produce is often lower grade than a supermarket's and frankly is not so cheap.
All in all a supermarket would be beneficial to the area and if granted I trust the other retailers would diversify so as to avoid competition - ie specialist beers in the off licence (which they do). John serves lots of businesses, which the supermarket will not. There was an application for an Indian takeaway granted some months ago so there's another idea.
On balance, I think I'd back a supermarket but have to find somewhere else to MOT the car.
It got bounced by Planning. None of the ward councillors were present.
I have only just seen this and I'm amazed that yet again plans for the co-op have been vetoed. This is NOT serving the local community. This is a disservice to the local community whose elderly members, mums with young children have to trek all the way to Willesden to buy fresh meat and fish! Here is my previous argument which I placed on Streetlife earlier this year.
I believe we are doing a great disservice to the Dollis Hill community by opposing this food store. It is possible for corner shops and small supermarkets to co-exist alongside each other and survive. A case in point would be Salusbury Road in Queen's Park which saw the arrival of a similarly sized chain supermarket (Sainsbury's local) turn up on its doorstep. Ten years ago there were five corner/local shops, one fruit/veg/mixed offerings and two pharmacies (always incredibly well stocked btw) on Salusbury Road and today those same shops still remain. Queen's Park serves a smaller community than ourselves and all of these outlets have survived. We need to see the opportunity that Co-op brings to our larger community and the benefits therein which quite simply would serve our demographic well. We have a mixed community of old and young alike and I see elderly people hauling their shopping trolley's from their shop at Sainsbury's quite regularly. Our corner shops don't sell fresh meat or fish, however they do have a plethora of goods that you probably wouldn't find in a Co-operative. Let's embrace this additional resource to our community and watch our corner shops adapt accordingly. The footfall alone from the Co-operative past the pharmacy should see an increase in customers!
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