Richard Thompson, Aldi Property Director “We have valued Planning Potential’s detailed and through approach, building excellent working relationships with the project team and decision makers at the Local Authority to ensure a comprehensive planning package to enable a timely positive decision of our proposals at Holbeach”.
Planning Potential led detailed pre-application discussions with South Holland District Council as local planning authority and owners of the former Depot site, Fleets Street, Holbeach in Summer 2022. This included providing detailed and comprehensive advice on application requirements and coordinating the preparation of the required inputs with the Development Team. This involved preparation of detailed bespoke retail impact and sequential assessments, supporting the case for a new store in an accessible edge-of-centre location that would provide much needed choice and competition for the growing community. The scope of the assessments were agreed with officers prior to submission, reducing the need for detailed discussions post submission.
We also engaged with a comprehensive public consultation exercise with residents and ward Councillors, including a public consultation event which secured 97% support for the proposals.
An application was submitted in October 2022 under a Planning Performance Agreement with the Council, with Planning Potential closely monitoring and coordinating swift responses to consultation comments. This included demonstrating that a biodiversity net gain could be secured on site (via condition), ensured the development would not result on a significant adverse impact on the amenity of existing neighbouring residents, engaging and responding with the Council’s independent Retail Advisor and responding to a competitor objection to the application. This ensured Officers were comfortable with the key technical points of the submission, allowing them to take the application to Planning Committee in March 2021, where Members expressed unanimous support for the proposals. Permission was subsequently issued with no associated S.106 Agreement.
Summary of Achievements
- Detailed pre-application discussions.
- Negotiations on a Planning Performance Agreement.
- Coordinating consultant team.
- Preparing detailed Retail Impact and Sequential Assessments.
- Securing unanimous support at Committee.
- Negotiating conditions with no requirement for a S.106 Agreement
