The proposals have been submitted following an extensive period of public consultation through questionnaires, public exhibitions and individual meetings with local residents.
As a result, 74% of responses received from local people expressed full or partial support for Sainsbury’s plans.
Many respondents stated the need for competition and a greater shopping offer in the town as reasons for their support, along with the prospect of around 200 new full and part-time job opportunities being created for local residents.
Since the public consultation in July 2012 there have also been some changes to the plans, based on the feedback received. The customer restaurant has been moved from the first floor to the ground floor, therefore reducing the height of the building closest to nearby residents. The vehicle access to the store from the A53 has also been amended due to some concerns regarding safety exiting the car park; vehicles will now only be able to turn left out of the store. New pedestrian routes have also been added, so that customers and residents can safely walk between the store and the Gingerbread man pub to the north and town centre to the south. A new bus-stop on Adderley Road has been included, to accommodate customers using the local bus service to travel to the store. All of these and other changes can be seen in the full planning application.
The new store will offer a wide range of Sainsbury’s popular food and non-food products, restaurant and in-store bakery. Over 250 parking spaces will be created with dedicated disabled and parent and child facilities.
Andrew Sanderson, Regional Development Executive for Sainsbury’s, said: “We are very pleased to have received a positive response from the Market Drayton community. We have now submitted our planning application to the local council and we look forward to it being brought before the planning committee in due course.”
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