ASDA bypass council over college plan

After two years of delay, the supermarket giant and Worthing College decided this week that the only way forward was to bypass the local council completely.

The council has now lost its chance to deal with this key planning application at this stage '“ one of its core functions '“ but says the government is to blame for delaying the publication of guidelines.

Naomi Duggan, ASDA's head of property communications, told the Herald: "Planning regulations allow applicants to ask the Deputy Prime Minister to determine an application if the local authority fails to do so within a defined period.

"We have waited longer than the required period before lodging an appeal, since our preference is always to allow a local authority to determine an application if possible.

"However, over recent weeks it has become clear to us that, despite having satisfactorily answered all the council's outstanding questions, there was still no prospect of Worthing Council's planning committee giving us a date for a decision.

"We cannot allow this situation to persist indefinitely '“ nor is it appropriate for this cloud of uncertainty to continue to hang over local residents, our supporters and those who might have concerns. We want to bring this long-running saga to a conclusion."

The multi-million pound development would see Worthing College demolished and re-built with state of the art facilities on the same site, as well as an ASDA superstore.

Peter Corrigan, principal of Worthing College, said: "The college is successful, popular and an asset to this town. However, the major obstacle facing the college is its ageing buildings which do not meet the needs of education in the 21st century.

"The success of the college means that each year our student numbers grow. In the longer term, this demand cannot be met in our existing accommodation.

"These proposals are crucial to the college's future. There needs to be an end to this uncertainty. It is disappointing that we cannot obtain an answer from our local authority and elected councillors."

The appeal means that there will now be a public inquiry into ASDA and the college proposals, which will be chaired by an independent inspector. ASDA anticipate the inquiry will take place towards the end of the year.

Rod Winter, who has campaigned with Field Place Area Residents' Association against the development, said: "We shall be prepared to make our representations at the inquiry. We have been expecting ASDA to do this because of the length of time it has taken the council. We will just go along with it and make sure we get our say at the inquiry."

James Appleton, chief planning officer at Worthing council, said: "The applications for a new ASDA store and college buildings have provoked considerable local concern and have raised a number of complex issues which have taken time to try and resolve. However, one of the reasons for the delay in determining these applications has been waiting for revised government advice on retail policy.

"It was hoped that the committee could have made an informed decision on these controversial proposals with the full knowledge of the government's position on retail policy, in particular out-of-town shopping developments. Although the government stated that this revised guidance would be published last summer, it has now indicated that the advice may not now be published until this summer.

"While it is disappointing that the college has decided to appeal against non-determination, it is perhaps not surprising given the recent decision by the government to further delay important revised guidance on retail policy."