THE TESCO versus Morrisons superstore war has stepped up a gear.
Morrisons has announced it plans to more than double the size of its Meltham store from 13,242 sq ft to almost 27,000 sq ft of shop floor space.
It is believed the Bradford-based chain could be hoping to trump rivals Tesco by building a larger store.
Tesco hopes to build a store with 23,000 sq ft of trading space at the former Midlothian Garage Site, off New Mill Road, Holmfirth.
Morrisons revealed it would be expanding its store to 24,107 sq ft when it revealed plans for the supermarket, off Huddersfield Road, in March.
But plans now submitted to Kirklees Council reveal Morrisons wants an even larger store.
A spokesperson for Morrisons said: “Morrisons is committing to substantial investment and job creation in Meltham.
“The foodstore extension has been designed to ensure that a high quality, cohesive layout is delivered to provide a significant improvement to the customer environment, shopper comfort, choice and quality of provision.”
Morrisons has said the store in its current form is unable to stock a full range of Morrisons products.
The company also believes, at present, the building looks dated, the cafe is too small, there are insufficient parking spaces and checkouts and the aisles are too narrow.
Holme Valley North councillor, Edgar Holroyd-Doveton, expressed some concern about the plan.
Clr Holroyd-Doveton said: “With a larger store it will become more attractive to a larger area so there’s concern about the traffic becoming exponentially greater.
“The design of the car park is also a concern because wood deteriorates very quickly and we want the design to blend in with a Yorkshire village.”
The new store, if granted planning permission, will have 222 parking spaces (an increase of 66) with a two-tier car parking deck.
Kirklees councillors will decide whether to grant Morrisons planning permission after a public consultation on the plan ends on May 22.
The Tesco plan for New Mill Road has been submitted to the council and is due to be discussed by planning committee councillors in the near future.
