The controversial plans for a Spar store that don’t seem to go away

Thursday, 15 May 2025 13:30

By George Lythgoe

Abandoned garage on Smithy Bridge Road, Littleborough

The developer who was refused permission to build a new Spar convenience store in Littleborough has lost an appeal.

At the beginning of 2024, James Hall & Co Ltd were denied by Rochdale Council planning committee in their bid to demolish the old Lake Garage off Smithy Bridge Road and replace it with a Spar convenience store and a cash machine.

This was the second time the developer had put forward the proposals to transform the former motor dealership and MOT/car repair garage after a previous refusal.

Despite the design and layout changes, council planning officers still believed there would be safety concerns for pedestrians.

James Hall & Co Ltd reduced the number of site access points from three to one and provided a dedicated pedestrian route to the store entrance. They added that an HGV would only be on the site once a day, at most, and measures would be in place for staff to move vehicles blocking the route in.

The developers said the new store would ‘meet the day-to-day convenience shopping needs of local residents without the need to travel further afield’ and create 30 permanent jobs – 15 full-time and 15 part-time.

But planning officers still had concerns about the manoeuvres required from service vehicles delivering to the store and the lack of parking – creating a safety risk for pedestrians. Following the decision to refuse the plan in January 2024, the developer lodged an appeal a few months later.

In response, the Planning Inspectorate decision read: “I am not satisfied that the proposal would not cause harm to highway safety, and the imposition of a condition relating to a ‘Delivery Management Plan’ would mitigate the overall concerns.

“I acknowledge the appellant’s willingness to provide such detail, but this has not been provided and the supporting statements are again based on assumptions, examples and presumptions of how deliveries could be managed.

“Nevertheless, I agree with the council that it would place an unnecessary burden on them to control in this instance and would only provide a degree of control and certainty.”

The Planning Inspectorate decision on the matter is final and a new planning application would be needed for any future development on the site.