Inverness retail application hits snag after safety objections from bed shop next door and concerns from council transport team
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A plan to develop a vacant site in the Longman Industrial Estate to form two retail units has hit a double hitch.
The Dreams bed shop which would be attached to the proposed new building has objected formally on several grounds including that their fire escape and goods access would be blocked.
Highland Council’s transport planning team have also reported various concerns over the application, including that the new commercial units would be sited on the existing delivery and servicing yard for the bed store, and there were no alternative arrangements proposed.
Planning consultant Daniel Wheelwright of Rapleys LLP points out on behalf of Dreams that the planning application proposes the new retail units would be attached to the south of the Dreams unit, with retail frontages along Longman Road and use the existing access from Harbour Road.
He said: “This would block the existing service and delivery access of the current unit as well as a fire escape door, and ventilation openings.
“Due to the blocked service access, deliveries would likely have to come through the main entrance on the western elevation, and HGVs would have to use the customer parking area.
“This could then create serious safety issues with HGVs operating in the customer parking area where pedestrian and customer car movement activity is high.”
He claimed also that the application is not supported by the necessary information to enable full consideration of the proposal in respect of transport impact, parking and servicing provision, retail justification and drainage details.
The application for planning permission to Highland Council is from Principal Development Ltd via its Inverness agent Adrian Fatol, of Mabbett and Associates, at Stoneyfield.
The intention is to add the non-food commercial unit at 17 Longman Road which potentially could be occupied by one or two businesses.
An additional 23 car parking spaces would be required, and it is proposed to remove one of four small trees to accommodate the additional car parking requirement.
The council’s transport planning team report noted that the new commercial units will be sited on an existing delivery and servicing yard, with no alternative proposals identified for the existing commercial units, Dreams and the American Golf shop.
The report states: “The submission shows servicing for the new units will be from a small area directly adjacent to the only vehicular access into the wider site, which will disrupt use of that access whilst servicing and delivery vehicles are using that area.
“Such arrangements cannot be accepted and we recommend that revised proposals are sought that adequately cater for the servicing and delivery requirements of the existing and proposed new commercial units within this site.”
The report also says: “We recommend that revised proposals are sought that provide appropriate and sufficient waste storage and collection facilities for the existing and new commercial facilities.”
