With permission from Mr Bruce Smith the developer on behalf of a Supermarket, Business Park and Country Park…..e-mail to FDC, councillors and interested parties (The Public)
Sainburys/Business Park applications Whittlesey
Graham
I write to confirm that if a planning consent is not issued by 30 June 2015(including the completion of any required S106 Agreement) then Sainsburys will be able to terminate their contractual commitments and withdraw from the transaction to deliver a food store and Country park in Whittlesey.
Accordingly any investment in job creation,consumer choice and the country park will be lost.
The public have overwhemingly supported this application for nearly 4 years and so I would urge you not to lose sight of this date as there is nothing I can do once it has passed to recover the situation , there are no other food store operators willing to come forward.Indeed from press announcements I would infer that Sainsburys if given the chance and if they had their time again, would not progress this opportunity,I cannot impress upon you enough that this is really a once in a generation opportunity for Whittlesey which if lost will never be repeated.
It is therefore critical that you as Officers and your members are aware of this and if you are supportive then please do all you can to issue the consent in the immediate future(and replicate the S106 agreement in substantcially the same form as per the existing S106 for the previous scheme).
My preference is immediate delegated approval so that all parties can then focus on the S106( with only absolutely essential changes being permitted to preclude any delay) and in this way it should be possible to have an approval by mid June in the worst case.
The principle and existing food store permission was originally approved following 3 Development Control Committees and given that we are now only talking about technical highway changes I do not think that any further reference to Development Control Committee is a beneficial use of members time.
The risk of delay far outweighs the JR risk which was totally dismissed without merit last time.
Can you please advise me of the determination date for deciding these applications as a matter of extreme urgency as I am coming under pressure to make a public statement to supporters.
I and Whittlesey town are soley in your hands as to whether this scheme can ever be delivered. If you consider a meeting between you and the members of the council and I would be helpful I am available.
Regards Bruce
So there we have it straight from the man who has put a ‘lot’ of money into getting this development where it is today. June 30th is the crunch date.
Watch this space….it is the ‘only’ place you will get ‘facts’ not rumours…
RG.
