A national supermarket chain is looking to vary a condition on its planning permission, which is now nearly 30 years old.
Marks and Spencer are seeking permission from the Isle of Wight council to keep its delivery gate, on Medina Avenue, open at all times during the working day.
It says this will help prevent hold-ups on the road as vehicles wait to be let in.
Condition imposed in 1993
Currently, the planning condition says the gate to the service yard shall be kept closed at all times and only opened when needed.
The condition was imposed when the store was built in 1993.
Manual operation leads to traffic delays
However, the supermarket argues, due to the gates being manually operated, a staff member is required to open them so the vehicles could be kept waiting on the road, impacting traffic flow.
It also says the manual operation of the gates is likely to result in clashing and banging as the metal gates are manoeuvred into place.
Would be closed at the end of each day
A transport statement supporting the change, says the gates would be closed at the end of each day and site management will where possible maintain a schedule of deliveries to control activity at the site.
Support from Island Roads
Island Roads has said from a highways perspective it is more beneficial that the gates are open during the working day so no disruption is caused by waiting vehicles.
It says it has no objection to the changes.
Complaints from neighbours
The application follows complaints from nearby residents who say they are disrupted by the deliveries to the store.
The supermarket giant was looking to change its delivery times on Sundays and Bank Holidays, bringing the time it was allowed to deliver forward by two hours, from 10am to 8am.
Application thrown out
The Isle of Wight council’s planning committee threw out the application after hearing from nearby residents about the disruption the deliveries caused them.
One resident said they only get two days of respite a year from the deliveries and they ‘did not have to put up with any old noise, but M&S noise’.
The committee felt the change of time would adversely affect the quality of residents’ lives if it went ahead.
View the plans
You can view the latest application, 22/01740/RVC, on the council’s planning register.
The public consultation run until 4th November.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
