LOCAL residents have launched another salvo against plans to convert a former York chapel into a Sainsbury’s convenience store.

Householders in Union Terrace are fighting an application by developers S Harrison to extend the finishing time for delivery hours at the proposed store in the Groves Chapel from 6pm to 7.30pm.

They have sought to draw parallels between their concerns and those raised by a planning inspector over a separate plan by Sainsbury’s to build a huge new supermarket on the B & Q site in Hull Road.

The Press reported last week how an inspector hearing an appeal against a condition imposed by City of York Council - which barred deliveries between midnight and 5am to protect local residents from noise - had serious concerns about the potential for noise during unsocial hours and about much of the highway evidence produced about traffic at the Hull Road junction and would be ‘minded to reverse the council’s decision.

Now Union Terrace resident Rosy Dickinson has emailed councillors on the planning committee to claim opponents to the Groves Chapel scheme raised similar traffic concerns but were ignored by the council.

She said the inspector said permission should only be given for the big store only if it was proven to have a “safe and suitable access to the site.”

York Press:

She said Union Terrace was a single lane terrace which would have over 200 cars and seven HGVs turning on it – exiting onto the main York loop road. “We said this and we were ignored.” She said the only mitigation had been the limited delivery hours.

But Gavin Douglas, design manager at S Harrison, said no parallels could be drawn between the two Sainsbury’s schemes, which were ‘very different and totally incomparable.’

He said the Hull Road superstore was designed to attract shoppers by car. “In stark contrast, the convenience store at Groves Chapel is targeting the existing high footfall that passes the building each day, as well as local residents who may not wish to drive to a supermarket,” he said.

“The transport statement, which was undertaken by specialist highways consultants and confirmed by City of York Council Officers as being overly robust, shows that 89 per cent of visitors to the store will arrive on foot.”