Road experts put three month block on M&S Food Hall plan as they seek more information

National Highways has recommended that planning permission for a new retail unit to the south of Sheet Road, in Ludlow should not be granted for a period of three months to give the applicant time to submit additional information.

Experts from National Highways were asked to give their response to the plans as it would sit close to the A49 which is a important strategic road.

George Hutton, an assistant spatial planner for National Highways has this week lodged his comments with Shropshire Council. A formal consultation period was dated to end on Thursday, March 16. It had a target decision date of April 7.

Mr Hutton says that based on their own independent assessment the proposed trip rates estimated "appear to be underestimated".

He adds that the extra information will help National Highways understand the worst-case assessments.

"While we consider the AM and PM peak hours identified as acceptable, we recommend that the applicant’s consultant undertake assessments for the neutral weekday AM and PM peak hours, alongside the Friday PM peak and Saturday peak."

He adds that: "However, as previously requested, we recommend that the consultant provides details on the methodology used to distribute the ‘new’ trips along with the associated calculations.

"As this information is currently unavailable for our review, we are not in a position to comment on the trip distribution assessment."

Ludlow councillor Andy Boddington said he was not suprised.

"The planning application was quite minimal and ignored most of the pre-application advice.

"Traffic was one of the big issues picked up before the application was submitted.

"Not just pressure on the A49 Sheet Road roundabout at peak times, but also parking on roads around the proposed store if the car park is full.

"The retail assessments on the impact on the town centre are also way out of date, based on analyses undertaken for Sainsbury's in 2017. The retail world has changed since then.

"If Marks and Spencers is serious about this application, it need to much more work to demonstrate that the scheme will work in the local proposed without serious impact on highways and the town centre."

An M&S spokesperson said: “We’ve seen a very positive reception in the local community to our plans for a brand new M&S Foodhall in Ludlow, which will offer local customers a wide range of great quality, trusted value M&S Food products.

"Together with Avenbury Properties and their team, we have worked with Shropshire Council throughout the application and we are now reviewing the technical points raised only yesterday by National Highways and will respond in due course.

“These plans for a new M&S Foodhall represent a significant investment in the local area and will make a positive contribution to the local economy – both by unlocking employment opportunities for up to 70 people and by helping to attract shoppers to the local area, enhancing the existing, vibrant retail offer in Ludlow.”

By the end of the consultation period the planning application had attracted a total of 53 online comments, with supporters narrowly outnumbering objectors by 29 to 23. It had a target determination date of April 7, 2023.

For more details visit Shropshire Council's planning website, where the application reference is 22/05682/FUL https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=dates&keyVal=RN5JRDTDL8X00