Plan to merge shop units at Telford retail park to create one large store
Plans have been revealed to merge three shops at a Telford retail park to create one large store, including a garden centre.
Applicant Corona Vulcan Telford Ltd wants to merge Units 2, 3 and 4 at Telford Forge Retail Park – occupied by SCS, Bensons for Beds and Furniture Village.
An application has been submitted to Telford & Wrekin Council to vary conditions, which would allow the development to take place.
Currently units on the industrial estate are restricted to a floor space cap of 50,000 square feet. The applicant wants to increase the condition to 60,000 square feet. Sainsbury’s store in Unit 8 is excluded from the maximum floorspace cap.
The applicant says that larger floor space is required in one unit to ‘secure the long-term occupation’ of the units.
“The retail park was built in the late 1990’s, and provides good quality accommodation for most uses, in terms of unit configurations, heights, relationship to car parking and separate service areas,” said the application cover letter.
“The site has evolved over time, largely through the adaptation of the existing units to create space that meets the needs of tenants.
“Examples of such adaptation include the formation of internal mezzanine floors, sub-division of units and the amalgamation of certain units, whilst retaining the existing central access, car park and rear servicing.
“The applicant has been in discussions with potential occupiers for Units 2 and 3 for some time, with planning permission granted to increase the permitted food sales at the site in June 2023, with the intention that Units 2 and 3 would be occupied by a foodstore.
“However, although there is presently not a tenant signed up to take the space, the current demand is from larger format occupiers, who would also typically require outside space. Therefore, this application seeks to increase the maximum single unit floorspace cap at the site in relation to one unit only, in order to secure the long-term occupation of the units.”
Corona Vulcan Telford Ltd believe that having a unit of up to 5,574 square metres ‘would not have implications’ in terms of retail policy.
They argue that such a retail unit ‘cannot be readily accommodated’ within Telford Town Centre itself.
“The latest available GOAD Plan of Telford Town Centre from December 2022 confirms that there is just one unit above 5,574 sq. m in the Town Centre, the Asda foodstore on Malinsgate, which measures 7,500 sq. m in size,” added the applicant.
“It is therefore clear from the latest publish GOAD data that that a unit of the size associated with the application cannot be accommodated within Telford Town Centre.”
They added that the plans would create no additional floorspace at the site, or widen the range of good that can be sold.
“It simply seeks to allow existing floorspace to be reconfigured to enable a single unit of up to 5,574 sq. m,” the cover letter adds.
“There is no evidence to suggest that a single unit of 5,574 sq. m would have a greater impact than two units of 4,645 sq. m (50,000 sq. ft) and 929 sq. m (10,000 sq. ft), which would be allowed.”
A transport statement submitted with the application argues that trip rates per unit floor area would reduce due to larger stores able to sell a greater range of stock.
“It is not expected that the proposals to permit a single larger to result in any noticeable change in traffic levels when compared to three smaller units of an identical combined area within the same use class,” the application adds.
The application can be viewed on the Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning portal, application number TWC/2024/0014. Comments should be made during the application phase which ends on January 29.
