Leckhampton’s Co-Op is on the move.
The Leckhampton Road store is going to move to the corner of Pilley Lane a little further up the Leckhampton Road – the former John Wilkins garage site. This follows a unanimous vote by Cheltenham’s planning committee. Most local people have welcomed the idea of the move.
Martin spoke at the meeting and explained the concerns that nearby residents had about the design and sheer scale of the planned three-storey building. It’s not ideal but on balance Martin backed the plan which also incorporates 14 new homes. There was no guarantee that if the plan was rejected the Co-Op move would have happened at all and something even less appropriate might then have been proposed.
On the positive side:
- This means the Co-Op can leave its present site which is plagued by pavement parking and awkward shared access next to a busy roundabout. The new plan separates customer parking, pedestrian access and a loading bay for deliveries.
- The 14 new homes -2 semi-detached houses and 12 flats – will include some of the most affordable in the area and better use of brownfield sites for housing always helps us to make the case for the defence of our green fields
- The switch from a barren garage site to one with planting on two sides will actually represent a significant increase in biodiversity. And none of the new homes will be connected to the gas grid – they’ll all benefit from solar panels and air source heat pumps.
- The new buildings will be further from neighbouring properties than the current garage buildings – because they’ll be separated by the residents’ and customer car park.
Detailed plans can still be viewed on the Cheltenham planning portal.
