Plans approved for safety works at supermarket

Kieran Molloy, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans to stabilise land at a Sainsbury’s supermarket after the collapse of a boundary wall have been approved by council planners.

Permission has been granted to carry out engineering works at Sainsbury’s Thornhill store on Excalibur Drive after planning documents warned the surrounding ground had become unstable and required intervention to prevent further movement.

The application states the works are “essential to secure the safe repair and replacement of a collapsed party wall to the north of the site”.

Planning documents add: “At present, the surrounding land has failed and remains unstable, necessitating immediate engineering intervention to re-stabilise the area and prevent any further ground movement.”

A “limited” number of trees within the TPO (tree protection order) protected will need to be removed “solely to enable safe access and sufficient working space”, however the removals are restricted to what is “strictly necessary in the interests of safety and land stabilisation”.

However, the loss of trees will be mitigated through the planting of replacement trees.

Planning documents read: “Several of the trees proposed for removal are already dead or in a dangerous condition, and their loss would therefore not result in unacceptable harm to public amenity.

“Overall, the extent of tree removal is proportionate, justified and tightly constrained.”

The officer’s planning report reads: “It is considered that the proposal would not be overbearing or generally un-neighbourly to justify concern for the local planning authority.”

It continues: “It is envisaged that the proposal would not have any un-neighbourly impact upon adjacent residential properties to the north at Woodlawn Way.”

Later in the application, the works are called “necessary to ensure safety, prevent further instability and allow for the repair and replacement of the boundary structure”.