Authority is delegated to the Head of Planning and Enterprise to approve Application Number PA14/00532 subject to:

A. The completion of a Section 106 Agreement to secure measures to secure town centre improvements and retail impact mitigation, linkages/connectivity and transportation improvements; flood mitigation and habitat mitigation and compensation, highways improvements contribution towards Carwin Rise and survey and traffic calming if required in Angarrack. The Section 106 Planning Obligation to be completed within 3 months of the date of determination by the Strategic Planning Committee. If the planning agreement is not completed by this date the Head of Planning and Enterprise be given delegated authority to refuse planning permission on the grounds that the proposal has failed to secure the necessary safeguards to ensure the provision of the necessary mitigation and contributions within a time period deemed sufficient;

B. The conditions as set out in the report or similar conditions, to be agreed with the Head of Governance and Information in consultation with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee.

Summary:

This is a report of a major planning application for retail led development to be located in Hayle, west Cornwall.

The full application would provide for 14,588sq m of A1 and A1/A3 gross retail and restaurant/café uses. Specifically the proposed scheme would be ‘anchored’ by a new Debenhams department store with seven further Class A1 retail units are proposed for national fashion retailers. The scheme would also include three family restaurants/cafes that would also be occupied by national companies. The applicants have stated the scheme would complement the adjacent West Cornwall Shopping Park which includes several national retail chains.

The scheme would bring a number of significant benefits. The applicants have stated that principally this would include an investment in Hayle of approximately £30M, and would create the following employment opportunities:

• Up to 595 FTE jobs in the development itself;
• Up to 357 FTE construction jobs during the 15 month construction process;
• Up to 269 indirect jobs in the immediate local area and wider Cornwall area as a result of the development proceeding.

The scheme would provide a key retail destination for Hayle and west Cornwall and remove/reduce the need for those residents to travel to Truro, Plymouth or Exeter for their fashion shopping.

The applicants have provided assurances to the Council and t o its retail advisors (GVA) that several of the key national tenants are ready to occupy the units. The scheme is therefore considered to be capable of being delivered in a timely manner and weight has been given to the scheme on that basis.

In the first instance the scheme has been assessed for its retail and highway impacts.

In terms of retail impacts, given the site’s location as an out-of-centre retail use it necessary to apply the ‘sequential test’. It is also necessary for a scheme of this size to apply a retail impact test. A range of alternative sites have been considered with the applicants, the Council and GVA, and there is general agreement that there are no suitable or sequentially preferable sites for the scheme as proposed when compared to the tests as set out in the NPPF. In terms of retail impact it is agreed that there would be a trade draw from a number of centres in west and mid Cornwall. In particular there would be a significant adverse impact on Penzance town centre, as well as Falmouth town centre, on the assumption the Sainsburys in that centre is delivered. Elsewhere there would be an adverse impact on Camborne and Truro. These impacts are required to be balanced against the positive benefits of the scheme, in particular the positive and negative impacts of reducing retail demand in Truro (positive in the sense of providing a more even distribution of shopping and trip making patterns in the area, though negative in terms of potential impacts with possible other retail developments in the area). It is worth noting that the impacts are less pronounced on Hayle itself.

In terms of highway impacts the scheme is considered to be acceptable on the strategic trunk road network. The projected vehicle flows and the proposed design of the revised roundabout on the A30 at Loggans Moor is accept able to the Highways Agency. Furthermore, it is considered that the proposed improvements to the Strategic Route Network provide significant benefits to the town as they would help to deliver planned growth up to 2030. The scheme has also been assessed for impacts on the local road network in particular for potential impacts on the nearby village of Angarrack, and the Council’s Highways Development Management Officer has concluded that with the proposed traffic calming measures, footway provision and other improvements, the proposals are acceptable from a highways perspective.

The scheme would also give rise to potential ecological and flood risk impacts. The applicants have proposed a number of ecological mitigation measures. These include the management of the Marsh Lane Meadows Cornwall Wildlife Trust site by a management company for local use in perpetuity, as well as physical enhancements such as viewing platforms and bird hides. In addition, off-site compensation has been proposed following discussions between the applicant and Environment Agency. In terms of flood risk given the sensitivity of the site it has been necessary to apply a sequential test which indicates that there is a sequentially p referable site at the Hayle Rugby Football Club, however as the Rugby Club site has yet to demonstrate its suitability for retail development of the scale proposed, and for reasons discussed below the benefits of bringing forward development at the Cranford Marsh Lane site outweigh the limited flood risk when weighed against the NPPF as a whole.

Further information and assessment of the main planning is sues are detailed in the planning assessment below.

Finally, the report should be read in conjunction with the application PA14/02920 for retail led development at the Hayle Rugby Club which is a competing scheme included for determination in this agenda. The planning issues associated with the cumulative retail impact is set out in this report however it is your Officer’s advice (supported by GVA) that while there are similar planning issues arising for both applications the Cranford scheme has addressed all relevant planning concerns and is capable of being determined on today’s agenda.

In conclusion, following careful consideration of all relevant issues, the benefits of the proposal are considered to outweigh the adverse impacts for the reasons summarised above. The application is therefore recommended for conditional approval subject to a section 106 agreement that the Heads of Terms have been agreed and would secure the necessary attendant infrastructure and mitigation. These include on and off site requirements in relation to transport, flood mitigation, ecological mitigation and off-site compensation, town centre manager and public access to Angarrack.

via https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/documents/s74905/PA14-00532%20-%20Comm...