A supermarket giant is proposing to build a convenience store at a vacant Auchterarder brownfield site.
Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd is seeking full planning permission for a new foodstore (Class 1A) covering 448 square metres along with access, parking, servicing, and associated works at the Feus. The site off the A824 had formerly been occupied by a haulage depot.
A pre-application enquiry for an alternative scheme was submitted in 2021 involving a similarly sized Sainsbury’s Local store and three separate retail units. However, these units have now been removed.
A planning and retail statement submitted with the application by planning consultants Alder King said the store is expected to create between 15-20 full- and part-time jobs as well as construction jobs during the erection of the store and car park.
Alder King pointed out in the document that a survey they had carried out showed that “there are no locations within the town centre which would be appropriate for the size of store proposed, even with a reasonable degree of flexibility” adding: “Furthermore, there were no situations where contiguous vacancies exist such that potential amalgamation of vacant units could accommodate a new convenience store of the size needed.
“The proposed convenience store will be in a convenient location to meet top-up shopping needs for the growing number of residents within the eastern edge of Auchterarder.
“The new store will provide much needed additional choice for the town, which currently has only a limited convenience food offering.
“In doing so, the proposal will reduce the extent to which residents have to travel out of the town for every-day top-up shopping.”
The consultants also considered that the principle of a new convenience store on the site is supported by the Perth and Kinross Local Development Plan and National Planning Framework 4.
Their statement continued: “The only notable convenience store within the centre is the Co-Op, with no larger supermarket nearby. This means residents will be travelling out of the town to complete their shops leading to a potential high level of retail leakage through loss of linked trips.
“Whilst there is a small SPAR store to the west of the centre, the range of goods offered is small, and given the absence of a notable own-brand differential offering, the store mostly replicates branded goods available in the Co-op.”
It was also stated that the proposal “will make the best use of the currently vacant site” and “relate well to the surrounding area” with new car and pedestrian access from the Feus and “a degree of separation” maintained from the residential dwellings to the east to “ensure that the development respects their residential amenity.”