7 March 2012
Mr J Kehoe
Head of Planning
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Town Hall
Tunbridge Wells
Kent
Dear Mr Kehoe,
Ref: 12/00473/FUL Change of use from vehicle repair workshop (Class B2) to convenience retail (Class A1) - 3 High Street Pembury Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 4PG
I am again writing on behalf of The Pembury Society. All our original concerns about the above application still stand (copy attached) and we feel that the revised proposals for parking arrangements and deliveries have not solved those particular issues.
Firstly, the applicant admits to providing only 10 parking spaces when the KCC requirement for a store of this size is 17. Despite their unrealistic assumption that people will walk to the site, rather than drive, this may be acceptable if they were not to be reduced to 6 every time there is a delivery. Clearly only 6 parking spaces are totally unacceptable given that there is already considerable pressure on the very limited parking available in the immediate area.
Secondly, the provisions proposed to deal with deliveries are still not practical for the following reasons:
a) How can you ensure that the 4 parking spaces along Camden Avenue are cleared when a delivery is due? Inevitably customers will park to shop in the Co-op and then leave their vehicle there while they do other errands in the area. This leaves the cars unattended and therefore unmoveable.
b) There may well be double yellow lines in Camden Avenue but these are often ignored, particularly by older people visiting the Chemist. Camden Avenue is a narrow residential road and any parking blocks access to all but the smallest vehicles, therefore any delivery vehicle larger than a van will be unable to get onto the site.
If either of the above problems occurs when a delivery is due the vehicle will be unable to access the site in the manner envisaged. What will the driver then do as there is no suitable parking in this very busy area? It is suggested that there will be 4 deliveries a day and it is clear that there is likely to be considerable disruption every time.
We, therefore, feel that this application for change of use to retail of the sort proposed should be refused, as it was before.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Kathryn Franklin
for The Pembury Society
20 September 2011
Mr J Kehoe
Head of Planning
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Town Hall
Tunbridge Wells
Kent
Dear Mr Kehoe,
Ref: 11/02582/FUL - Change of use from vehicle repair workshop (Class B2) to convenience retail (Class A1) - 3 High Street Pembury Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 4PG
I am writing on behalf of The Pembury Society who have serious concerns about the above planning application and feel strongly that it should be refused.
This application is only for change of use to retail and whereas certain retail outlets may be acceptable for this site, the declared intention for a convenience store is not. This application must not be considered in isolation as just a change of use to A1, but in the light of the applicant’s ultimate aim. Pembury is currently well served by a variety of stores offering what the applicant proposes to provide, including a ‘Co-op’ convenience store at Woodsgate. So why do we need another ‘Co-op’ just a quarter of a mile away?
This site is in a very prominent position within the Pembury Conservation Area and must, therefore, be considered with great care. The applicant states that if change of use is granted there will be further applications regarding the fabric of the building to make it fit for their purposes and there will also be a need for signage. Signage could be particularly sensitive because, as a national company, the ‘Co-op’ would want to display their corporate image and that is unlikely to be compatible with the concept of a Conservation Area.
The area around Pembury Green is already short of parking and this proposal would aggravate the situation considerably. The suggestion that people will walk to the store and so only 6 parking spaces will be sufficient is unrealistic. Because of the site’s position at the junction of the two main roads through the village, there may also be some passing trade and these people too would require somewhere to park.
Approval of change of use to retail in this case, when it is known that the applicant wants to open a convenience store on the site, would imply that such a store would be acceptable. As far as the local people are concerned this is very far from the case. It is inevitable that a convenience store on this site would cause unacceptable disruption to the lives of the residents of Camden Avenue.
Firstly, Camden Avenue is a narrow residential cul-de-sac that already suffers with traffic problems created by the existing commercial activity in the High Street and it is totally unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles. There are double yellow lines along the Camden Avenue frontage of this site so delivery lorries could not park in the road to unload and if they did how would they re-access the High Street? There is no room to turn in the road, they cannot be allowed to reverse out and if they reversed in that would cause havoc while they manoeuvred. They would block a very busy junction in the middle of the village as Camden Avenue is almost opposite the junction of Lower Green Road with the High Street. There are also two bus stops and a pelican crossing in the vicinity. Parking on site to make deliveries has similar constraints, as there would be no room for a normal large delivery lorry to turn, particularly if customers’ cars are parked there.
Secondly, paragraph 6.27 of the planning statement states that the current legal use for the site (general industrial) would in any event be disturbing, by way of noise etc, to the residents of Camden Avenue. This may be so, but it would only occur during the normal 8 hour working day for 5 or possibly 5½ days a week, not for 16 hours a day 7 days a week and the disturbance from the traffic created would be minimal when compared with that created by the current proposal.
We therefore ask that this application for change of use be refused because the ultimate intention of the applicant to open a ‘Co-op’ convenience store on the site would be detrimental to the ambience of the Conservation Area, an unacceptable intrusion in the lives of the residents of Camden Avenue, would exacerbate already existing parking problems in the area and Pembury is already adequately served by stores of this type.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Kathryn Franklin
for The Pembury Society