Sainsbury’s is asking the High Court to quash the planning permission for a £100m development in South Ruislip that includes a new Asda superstore.
Sainsbury’s claims that the London borough of Hillingdon’s decision to grant consent for redevelopment of the former Arla Foods factory site is contrary to the national and local “town centre first” policy for retail development, and is asking Dove J to order the council to reconsider the application.
In December, Hillingdon approved the redevelopment comprising a cinema, restaurants, houses and flats, as well as a 40,000 sq ft Asda superstore.
But Sainsbury’s says that its superstore is in a sequentially preferable location in the town centre, and that it has “committed and planned” proposals for major investment in the centre. It secured permission for its own redevelopment scheme, nearly doubling its net sales area, in 2013, but argues its plans will be affected by a rival superstore.
David Forsdick QC argued that Hillingdon misunderstood and applied in a flawed way the National Planning Policy Framework and Local Plan on the sequential test and the impact test, with the result that the town centre first approach was not applied.
And he criticised the inconsistency of the decision with that taken in respect of a previous proposal for the Arla site. In 2013, planning permission for a scheme with a larger superstore was refused on grounds including the failure of the sequential test by virtue of the Sainsbury’s site being sequentially preferable and the retail impact on the centre, including by virtue of prejudicing the delivery of the Sainsbury’s development.
Dove J is expected to reserve judgment in the case.
The Queen on the application of Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd v London Borough Of Hillingdon, Planning Court (Dove J) 14 July 2015
