A planning application for the construction of a retail foodstore in Mottingham has been rejected following concerns about road safety and over intensification of the site.
The council’s Development Control Committee rejected Lidl’s revised application to demolish the existing Porcupine public house building, and build a retail foodstore with associated car parking, reconfigured site access, landscaping, servicing and other associated works.
Councillor Alexa Michael, Chairman of Development Control Committee said “We simply could not grant this application. Our concerns about the physical road environment and busy traffic conditions with the consequent road safety problems have not been overcome. While it is accepted that the applicant has revised their proposal from the original application, the size of the store is significant when compared with the site itself. This intensification, combined with highway concerns, led to the application being rejected.”
Over 400 responses were received from the consultation, with 335 responses objecting to the application. Both local ward councillors also objected to the application, as did the local Member of Parliament, Sir Bob Neill.
The application had been withdrawn from the Development Control Committee agenda in May 2020 to allow consideration of the new statutory government guidance for local authorities on managing their road networks in response to the Covid-19 outbreak and its implication in assessing a planning application. An earlier application for a retail store with a larger retail shopping floor area was dismissed on appeal at a public inquiry in December 2014.
ENDS
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