®Planning appeal decision
Former Coop Store and Car Park, High Street , Gillingham , SP8 4AG
demolition of existing former Coop store and redevelopment of the site to provide 42 residential units, comprising 4 houses (C3), 30 apartments (C3) and 8 assisted living apartments (C2), 83sqm of commercial space (Class E), allotments, landscaping and other associated works
- Authority
- Dorset
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Fish A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the appeal proposal would provide an appropriate level of affordable housing having particular regard to viability
- The effect of the appeal proposal on the vitality and viability of the town centre
What decided it
The site's ten-year vacancy, failed marketing efforts demonstrating the building is no longer suitable for reuse, and the proposed redevelopment's compliance with neighbourhood plan policy permitting residential-led mixed-use schemes on unsuitable buildings outweighed concerns about retail floorspace loss.
Framework references: 58, 66, 90, 56
Plan policies cited: Policy 8, Policy 12, Policy 7, Policy 13, Policy 14, Policy 15
The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.