Waitrose to open next month

The new Chipping Sodbury Waitrose store will open at 8am on Thursday, October 10. The footbridge link to the High Street should be finished by the end of September.

Chipping Sodbury Waitrose development given outline planning permission

At their meeting last week, South Glos Council's Development Control (East) Committee agreed to give outline planning permission to the controversial application for a Waitrose supermarket and 170 houses on the Barnhill Quarry site.

Chipping Sodbury appears split down the middle on the issue. A poll carried out by Sodbury Town Council showed a narrow majority of residents against the development. Some traders have come out against the scheme, but the Chipping Sodbury Chamber of Commerce has commented in favour of it.

More detailed plans will now be submitted to South Glos by the autumn, and Waitrose hope that the new store will be open in time for Christmas 2012.

Click the links for more coverage from the Gazette and the BBC

Chipping Sodbury Waitrose development gathers pace

Several recent moves show that the developers are serious about this site. Chelverton Deeley Freed has bought the former Lanes hardware shop in the High Street. This would give them a way through to the river and onwards to the Waitrose site.

The Gazette quotes a company director saying that they want to create a pedestrian link with three, four or five new shops at the rear of the building.

In another move Sodbury Town Council has agreed to give up its lease on the Wickwar Road car park. There are currently 180 free spaces. Under the Waitrose plan the free spaces will be reduced to 92 but there would be a further 208 short-term spaces for shoppers to the supermarket and the High Street. Again, more from the Gazette here.

A revised planning application is being submitted, and South Glos Council is expected to make a decision in December or January.

Chipping Sodbury split down the middle over Waitrose development

As we previously reported, Sodbury Town Council circulated a voting slip to all their households to gauge opinion on the proposal. The question was:
"Do you approve of the proposals for a Waitrose Store and residential housing on the Barnhill Site in Chipping Sodbury as per Planning Application PK10/1675/O?"

The results were as follows:

• Yes: 393
• No: 435
• Unsure: 57

That's 885 households responding out of 2286 - a 38% response, which is very good for this sort of consultation. So well done Sodbury Town Council, even if the overall town result seems to be "Don't know".

There was then a Town Council meeting at which the councillors voted 5 in favour, and 5 against the development, mirroring public opinion.

The plans now go to South Glos Council's Development Control Committee in December.

More details in the Gazette report here.

Chipping Sodbury Waitrose - for or against?

The controversial Barnhill Quarry development proposal provoked a lot of discussion at a recent public meeting in the Town Hall. It appears that local opinion is split for and against the Waitrose store and the housing development.

To gauge public opinion, Sodbury Town Council has circulated a voting slip to all households in the parish. they are asking for the papers to be returned to the Town Council by midday on Monday next week, 13 September.

The question is "Do you approve of the proposals for a Waitrose Store and residential housing on the Barnhill Site in Chipping Sodbury as per Planning Application PK10/1675/O?"

There are three options - yes, no and unsure. Please return the voting slip even if you're unsure, so that the Town Council knows whether the matter is of considerablepublic concern or not.

The details of the planning application are on the South Glos website here.

Missed the Barnhill / Chipping Sodbury Waitrose consultation?

If you missed last week's exhibition, you can still find out the latest from developer Chelverton Deeley Freed's website http://chelvertonbarnhill.co.uk/

Hard copies of the exhibition materials and comments forms are also available at Chipping Sodbury Library and Sodbury Town Council offices.

Barnhill development (Waitrose etc) - new consultation

Developers Chelverton Deeley Freed are holding a public exhibition of their latest plans in Chipping Sodbury Town Hall this week:

• Wednesday 10 February, 3.30 pm - 7 pm
• Thursday 11 February, 12 noon - 7 pm

The developers say "We are now in a position to present an overall masterplan for the site and indicative design details. The key components of the development have not changed, namely a Waitrose foodstore, new pedestrian link to the High Street with new shop units, and housing"


Please drop in at any time during these sessions and let them know what you think of their latest proposals.

Supermarket news - progress on Waitrose and Tesco projects

Waitrose has now committed to build a supermarket in Chipping Sodbury, possibly opening in 2011. This is part of a larger development incorporating some housing and smaller shops. There will be a pedestrian walkway across the Frome joining the supermarket to the High Street via a current private alleyway.

There is more detail in the Gazette report on Waitrose, and previous consultation documents are on Waitrose's consultants' website.

Meanwhile it is now expected that building works will start on the new Tesco store in Yate later this year. Demolition of the old store should start in early autumn, with a temporary store being provided before then.

Chipping Sodbury Waitrose update

A number of people have been searching on the blog for the latest about the Chipping Sodbury Waitrose supermarket and houses project. The answer is that there's not a lot to report at the moment - the developers are still working up more detailed plans.

There will be another public exhibition at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall on 27 and 28 February, and after they've taken the next lot of public comments into account a planning application will be submitted to South Gloucestershire Council.