ASDA Supermarket planning application decision

The planning application for a 35,000 sq ft ASDA supermarket, submitted to the former Salisbury District Council in November 2007, was the centre of a planning inquiry with a Tesco supermarket proposal on London Road Amesbury. The Public Inquiry was held at the 'Bowman Centre', Archers Gate in Amesbury, for two weeks in January and concluded its final week in April 2009.

Planning Inspector Mary O’Rourke led the inquiry into both applications and issued her decision on Wednesday 23rd September 2009 which refused the ASDA proposals.

The Secretary of State agreed with her recommendation and considered the Tesco application to be preferable to the Asda proposal in terms of accessibility and the sequential approach, design and landscape impacts and employment policy.

Tom McGarry, property communications manager for ASDA, said "independent polling undertaken last year showed 91 per cent of Amesbury residents wanted the ASDA store on Solstice Park.

The Inspector's decision leaves local people with the Tesco store they don't want in a location they don’t want a supermarket to operate in," he said.