Shoe firm boss Stuart Paver throws down gauntlet to York councillors

Stuart Paver said he would ‘welcome the opportunity’ to meet councillors on the site of his proposed warehouse extension at the Northminster Business Park in Upper Poppleton.

But in a clear warning about what would happen if the authority failed to reverse its decision not to approve the extension plans, he added: “Without approval for additional accommodation, York will miss out on the 130 jobs we have planned and £43 million injection to the local economy resulting from our warehouse and office extensions.

“Instead, we will look at options to address both the commercial and environmental performance of our business through building a second location closer to the bulk of our shops in the south of the country.”

Pavers says its online sales have grown by 700 per cent in the last three years, and its retail portfolio has grown to more than 180 stores.

The company says the expansion of its York warehouse is ‘desperately needed’.

It also applied to build a second extension to provide extra office space.

But council planners last week rejected the warehouse extension on the grounds it would encroach on green belt land.

Pavers subsequently withdrew the application for the office extension, saying one could not happen without the other.

• Angry backlash over York council decision to block Pavers extension

The council decision prompted a backlash, with Laurence Beardmore of York Chamber of Commerce, saying: “With the economy in such a perilous position, one really has to question the logic of blocking a business from creating jobs and providing additional revenue for the local council.”

Now Mr Paver, the company’s joint MD, has weighed into the debate himself.

“We’ve been based in York for over 50 years, where we have grown to become one of the UK’s leading shoe retailers,” he said.

“Our continued success, as well as the phenomenal growth online which demands more warehousing space, means we have now reached capacity at our Northminster Business Park HQ and have an essential need for additional accommodation.

“We want to continue our partnership with the city as we grow but extension into the field immediately to the west of our HQ offers the only practicable solution if we are to expand at our York base.

Stuart Paver (Image: Other)

“We would very much welcome the opportunity to meet councillors on site to help explain our predicament. We consider that there are very special circumstances in favour of our application which would outweigh the limited extension into green belt.

“As a York based family business we want to keep as much employment and investment in the city as possible.

“As many of your readers have commented, for the sake of half a potato field we would hope to find a solution to enable this investment and are very keen to work with the council to find a solution that works for all.”

Lib Dem councillor Tony Fisher has been vigorously defending the decision to reject the plans.

Commenting on the Press website, he said: “The site Pavers wanted to build on was not considered suitable for development and was retained in the Green Belt.

“However, there is land right next to their site to the south which is allocated for business development and if they applied to use that, I think it highly likely their application would be viewed favourably.”

Cllr Ashley Mason, City of York Council's executive member for economy and strategic planning, said: “Supporting local businesses growth is the cornerstone of York’s future prosperity.

"The operation of Pavers HQ as well as other local business HQ across the city plays an important role in delivering our economic plan, which is supported by the attractiveness to suppliers from around the world doing business with a York based HQ business.

“The planning process however is strictly governed by planning policy and guidance. Any applications put forward on the greenbelt are assessed at a very high bar and (save for specified exceptions which do not apply in this case) there is a need for very special circumstances to clearly outweigh all harms caused by the development.  

"The information provided as part of the application process was not considered in the view of professional officers and the majority of the committee to meet that test of very special circumstances.

“Other than business efficiency - which isn't a planning ground -  it was not considered that the level of harm caused to the green belt was clearly overcome by the reasons outlined by the applicant for the development to take place, there was also limited information as to why other land allocated for employment could not be used for the development, the planning committee thoroughly considered all the information however given the harm to the green belt the application was refused.

“Additional land has been allocated for employment floorspace at Northminster Business Park through the draft local plan process. This allocation and its associated greenbelt boundaries were discussed during the phase 3 local plan examination hearings in July this year. There were no representations made on behalf of the company to the local plan Regulation 19 consultation in 2018 to argue that the site in question needed to be excluded from the green belt to allow for this development to take place.

"The council considers that the land allocated is appropriate and sufficient to support the economic growth within the local plan as well as defining clear and permanent  greenbelt boundaries.

“The remaining land allocated for employment provides four times the amount of land required for the proposed Pavers expansion therefore offering an opportunity for the business to still realise their expansion plans. We look forward to working with officers and Pavers to see how this site can meet the needs of York’s economy going forward.”