A store on one of Huddersfield’s busiest retail parks has put in a planning application for a garden centre.
The proposal by The Range – based on the Great Northern Retail Park off Leeds Road – is going before the planning committee due to its location to Huddersfield town centre and because of the size of the proposed retail area.
The park suffers from major traffic problems at weekends when it gets busy with people facing long queues to leave it. Both the retail park’s owners and Kirklees Council are considering solutions to the existing problems with traffic flow within the car park and the junction at the busy centre off Leeds Road.
Traffic assessments say the proposed garden centre would generate 15 trips during peak hour and would not have any impact on the road network.
Council planning papers say: “It is noted that the current retail offer at the retail park has resulted in an increased level of traffic which, at times, has increased problems for motorists exiting the car park, with queues forming.
“For information Kirklees Council, together with the retail park owners, are considering possible solutions to the existing problems with the flow of traffic within the car park layout and the traffic controlled site access junction.”
The retailer took over the unit from Homebase, which had a garden centre, in April this year.
Council papers say The Range want to extend the current unit by replacing the garden centre part that was at Homebase with a new twin-pitched roof. This means it would provide an extra 929 square metres of internal floorspace. The application also reveals that The Range typically stocks 65,000 items.
The planning report states: “The extension would be located within a part of the site which has previously been used as a covered and open air garden centre. The proposals would enclose this area to create an entirely covered garden centre. The proposed extension would have limited visual impact. There would not be any significant alteration to the front of the building; the principal change would be that the upper part of the gable ends of the roof would protrude by around 1.25m above the existing front wall.”
Read: Opening of The Range has left cars queuing for hours to get out of Great Northern Retail Park
The Range argues it will not prejudice the viability of the town centre and Kirklees planners have recommended it be approved if it can resolve issues with a nearby gas main.
The Health and Safety Executive say that, on safety grounds, it should not be allowed due to the location close to a major gas pipe. Northern Gas Utilities, however, have indicated the garden centre is unlikely to affect the gas main. Kirklees is waiting on an official comment from the firm.
Councillors will make a ruling at Thursday’s Huddersfield planning committee.
