Company apologises after homes were found not to be legal.

Probe into plans raises concerns over town centre impact

A hard-hitting new report could sound the death knell for an £11 million Angus retail development.

Consultants Scott Hobbs Planning – brought in by Angus Council to probe the application – said the proposed development could have “significant, structural, long-term consequences for the future of the town centre as a retail destination”.

The company was asked to review Brackenbrae Investment Ltd’s initial retail statement following claims it produced “inconsistent results”.

The survey suggested Arbroath town centre shops were “over-trading” by more than 20% which critics suggested was at odds with the number of empty properties.

Lidl, Asda and Co-op have all raised objections to the proposal at the site of the former Metal Box factory, which would be occupied by Aldi, B&M Home Stores and Iceland’s new Food Warehouse store.

Talks have also been ongoing with Burger King and Costa Coffee to fill other units on the land which latterly housed the Presentation Products factory.

The Scott Hobbs Planning report stated: “The conclusions reached in this report lead to the overall conclusion that the impact on the vitality and viability of Arbroath town centre arising from the proposed development is understated in the retail statement and is likely to be significantly higher.

“The retail statement calculates an overall impact on the town centre of 6% (5% impact on comparison goods turnover and 10% impact on convenience goods turnover). Even at these levels the town centre comparison trade (which is the significant majority) is achieving just over 75% of what it is expected to achieve.

“Even a cursory visit to the main streets which make up the town centre, and the Abbeygate Centre, quickly leads to the conclusion that the centre is vulnerable to competition from out of centre retail which should, according to policy, in the first instance be located in the town centre.

“A significant increase in the predicted impact, coupled with the highly flexible format and floorspace ranges which could be facilitated in the proposed development, could have significant, structural, long-term consequences for the future of the town centre as a retail destination.”

Jigsaw Planning, on behalf of objector Asda, said the review confirmed there are “significant concerns that the impact on the vitality and viability of Arbroath town centre has been understated in the retail statement and that the impact is actually likely to be significantly higher”.

Director Katherine Sneeden said: “As such Asda maintains its position that the council should refuse this application.”

Co-op also said the report reaffirmed its view that the application would have a significant adverse effect on Arbroath and Carnoustie town centres.

Brackenbrae Investments Ltd said its proposal could result in “increased expenditure retention within the town centre, via the new linked trips that would be generated by the development and the retention of more shoppers within the catchment”. It said the “original sequential assessment” was “robust and fully assesses locations with the potential to accommodate the overall development proposal”.

The impact on the vitality and viability of Arbroath town centre arising from the proposed development is understated in the retail statement and is likely to be significantly higher. SCOTT HOBBS PLANNING REPORT

An impression of how the proposed £11 million retail development in Arbroath could look.