'Garden centre expansion would cost Burnham economy over £4 million'

Published: August 20, 2008
'Garden centre expansion would cost Burnham economy over £4 million'

Burnham-On-Sea's economy could lose up to £4million per year if plans to expand a local garden centre get the go-ahead, the Chairman of the town's Chamber of Trade warned on Wednesday evening (August 20th).

Addressing councillors at the town council's planning committee meeting, Alex Turco claimed the plans to extend Sanders Garden World at Brent Knoll by 35,000 square feet - which were unveiled by store boss Peter Burks, pictured below, in March - would have a major negative impact on the trade of shops and businesses in Burnham.

He told the meeting: "The Chamber would welcome this development if it were demonstrated that it would be positive for the Burnham-On-Sea economy. However, this development presents a risk that jobs and revenue will be diverted from the existing economy of Burnham, with which we are immediately concerned, as well as that of Highbridge."

"As a major application the applicant has been required to commission a retail assessment document to consider the risk of diversion. A main conclusion in the document is that there will be a likely transfer of around £0.5 million out of the economy of Burnham."

"The Chamber's principal concern is the quality of the data used by the applicant's retail assessment. In one section it is highly inaccurate, incomplete and certainly not up to date.."

"White Young Green Planning omits 54 business premises from their assessment. The total business premises should be increased to 227 from 173. They state that 11 businesses have competitive overlap, yet we estimate that 80 businesses have competitive overlap - 600 per cent more than WYG's estimate."

"This represents 35 per cent of the total business premises in Burnham Town Centre. WYG states that 2 businesses have partial competitive overlap, yet we estimate that 25 businesses have partial competitive overlap - 1,150 per cent more than WYG's estimate."

"This represents 11 per cent of the total business premises in Burnham Town Centre. WYG uses a figure of £0.5 million as the likely transfer of annual turnover from Burnham, over the 13 premises that it states have competitive overlap. This represents around £38,500 per premise. Our figures show that 105 premises would be impacted and, at £38,500 per premise, this is a loss of £4.04 million from Burnham-On-Sea's economy per year."

He added: "This is more than the £2.73 million additional turnover created at the site. Therefore, using these figures this demonstrates this development is negative for the local economy."

"Consequently, the Chamber has no confidence that the applicant's retail assessment can be relied upon because it so seriously flawed. Our research demonstrates that there is no basis for the application to be considered, let alone approved because this applicant has not met the conditions of a major application."

The planning applications committee agreed with the sentiments of the Chamber of Trade. Cllr Chris Williams said he has concerns about the loss of full-time jobs in Burnham to be replaced with part-time vacancies at Sanders Garden World.

Cllr Dennis Davey expressed fears about road safety, explaining: "There are also concerns from a councillor at Brent Knoll that the proposed expanded roundabout outside the store would increase the number of accidents along the A38."

"This is a very busy, fast-flowing stretch of road and placing a roundabout here may not necessarily mean that motorists would slow down to look for traffic coming from the right," he said.

Cllr Pauline Pollard added that she has concerns about the wide range of goods that Sanders Garden World would sell. "China, glass and gifts are all items sold by small shops here in Burnham."

And Cllr Janet Keen added: "This garden centre almost appears to be turning into an out-of-town shopping centre. It's been shown elsewhere that those can kill whole communities."

Councillors also raised objections about the garden centre's plans to expand its restaurant, which it believes may impact trade on cafes in Burnham.

Burnham-On-Sea.com broke the news in March that Sanders Garden World at Brent Knoll wanted to extend its premises by 35,000 square feet.

A formal planning application was recently registered by the store's owners, Wyevale Garden Centres, which will be reviewed by Sedgemoor District Council's planning team later this year.

Local residents have until August 26th to give their feedback and a formal consultation period by Sedgemoor planners is underway.

If approved, Wyevale told Burnham-On-Sea.com earlier this year that the extension could generate over 100 new jobs.

Store manager Peter Burks, pictured above, added that if the scheme gets the go-ahead, construction could begin as soon as November 2008 and the extension would be completed during the summer of 2009.

Mr Burks says he believes the extended store would have no impact on the trade of Burnham shops. "I really don't think it should make any difference to businesses in Burnham at all," he told Burnham-On-Sea.com. "Our initial planning application limited the number and type of products we could sell to reduce competition with shops in Burnham, and we have no intention of changing this."

Wyevale plans to increase the size of the store's covered building to 63,000 square feet and to leave the remainder of the outdoor sales area in its existing state. The proposal would also see the number of car parking spaces rise from 369 spaces to 411, and a new roundabout introduced on the A38.

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