AN unpopular proposal for a Co-op store in one of Cornwall’s largest coastal villages is likely to be approved next week after a council planning committee deferred the matter over road safety concerns late last year.

Westcountry Land (St Agnes) Ltd applied to Cornwall Council to build the convenience store, access, parking and landscaping on land off Penwinnick Road, St Agnes.

The authority’s planning department recommended approval after a retail impact assessment by the applicant concluded there would not be an effect on the viability and vitality of the village centre.

However, others disagreed, including local councillor Pete Mitchell who brought the matter before the council’s central area planning committee on November 17 – instead of it being decided by planning officers – due to the “foreseen detrimental effect on high street leading to shop closures” as well as parking being insufficient and access not being substantial enough.

In a written statement, Cllr Mitchell said the harm done to local traders would only be apparent after the store was built so any assessment before that would be unreliable. He said a plan for a Co-op store in Bere Alston, Devon, was recently refused on appeal due to similar concerns as those in St Agnes.

The proposal – which has received 110 objections and seven comments in support on the council’s planning portal – is for a Co-op store measuring 348 square metres with 14 parking spaces and one space for disabled drivers, as well as four bicycle spaces. It is expected to create full-time and part-time permanent jobs and be open from 6am to 11pm every day.

It would be built near existing housing and a residential development which is currently being built, as well as two listed buildings. The World Heritage Site Office said that the shop development would not impact protected land.

A council planning officer said at the meeting that access to the site has been “contentious” but the highways officer had not raised any safety issues.

The meeting heard that there was no evidence that the store would have a negative impact on the centre of St Agnes and that vehicle and pedestrian access, and parking, had been assessed as safe and suitable.

Jon Pearson, a qualified highways engineer with over 40 years of experience including as Cornwall Council’s senior highways officer, told the planning committee: “Throughout my career, I’ve used a simple test – would I be happy for my family to use an access to a development to walk, cycle, etc? If the answer was no, I’d recommend refusal, or nowadays I inform my client and step away. If the applicant had asked me to represent them on this proposal I would have declined.

“Safety must always come first. This proposal has been forced into a site that is plainly too small to operate safely. The transport statement contains multiple errors and misleading statements clearly lifted from another scheme. There is no analysis of articulated lorries yet I regularly see them delivering to Co-op stores in Penzance and Newlyn.”

He pointed out that the newly opened Saints Trail – a multi-use track for cyclists, walkers and horse-riders – runs directly past the site. “The existing pedestrian refuge was assessed for 39 dwellings, not for 39 dwellings plus a supermarket. It already falls below recommended standards for width and safe use by wheelchair or buggy users.”

Cllr Dawn Brown, chair of St Agnes Parish Council – which objected to the proposal – said that over 90 per cent of the community was against the proposal. “The issue is not just direct competition with the two existing convenience stores but the other food shops, the pubs, coffee bars and cafés that rely on passing trade for the viability of their businesses.”

Applicant Justin Dodge, of Westcountry Land (St Agnes) Ltd, said a near identical Co-op store approved by Cornwall Council in Fowey, which opened this summer, had received much opposition from the town council. “But now it has opened it looks fantastic and really serves the local community, being incredibly popular, trading brilliantly and is a real asset for Fowey.”

Cllr Steve Webb, a wheelchair user, said he had concerns about the width of the pedestrian refuge. “Cars could not safely drive either side of me sat in that refuge in the middle. I feel that crossing is unsafe for a busy crossing to a retail store.”

A vote to approve was lost by four in favour with five against and one abstention. A resultant vote to defer to look at the highways concerns was carried by seven votes for, three against and no abstentions.

The matter returns for debate by the central area planning committee on Monday (January 12) after it was re-assessed by the council’s highways officer.

Planning officer Niamh Ashworth notes in her report to councillors: “The approved plans for the junction on Penwinnick Road, outside the development have been reviewed and measurements taken from the plan.

“The highways officer has also been out to site to measure as built dimensions of the pedestrian refuge and the road and has confirmed that the width of the crossing as built on site is 1.435m wide with a 3m passing lanes.

“The highways officer is satisfied that these dimensions are acceptable and within build tolerances. Also that no further works are required to this crossing for it to provide adequate access to the existing development and that now proposed.”

Further conditions have been added to the application if approved, including a construction environmental plan, 30-year habitat management plan and mitigation of the effects of lighting on the World Heritage Site.

The application is recommended for delegated approval by the council’s chief planning officer.