A Brighton supermarket has been told to stick to its present hours for deliveries despite asking for changes.
Sainsbury’s, in Lewes Road, Brighton, wanted lorries to be able to deliver until 10pm each night from Monday to Saturday rather than before 9pm.
And on Sundays it wanted to be able to receive up to four deliveries a day rather than two. The delivery hours would remain 10am to 4pm.
Brighton and Hove City Council planning officers recommended allowing the change.
But councillors vetoed it with one of them, Green councillor Pete West, expressing concerns about the impact of the proposals on Sainsbury’s neighbours.
He said: “The neighbours of the Sainsbury’s site are already exposed to high levels of noise and also air pollution from the current regime of deliveries.
“This application to extend the hours and frequency of deliveries at the site will add to that noise nuisance and air pollution.
“I do not see why the current working arrangement of delivery frequency and period is insufficient given the long number of years the store has been open and been successfully operating.”
The council planning committee was told that neighbours had complained for more than ten years about noise from unloading.
Councillors were told that Sainsbury’s had a poor track record of complying with the existing delivery restrictions and residents were sceptical that it would stick to the proposed conditions or that those conditions could be enforced.
Councillors also criticised Sainsbury’s for lack of engagement with its neighbours and called on the company to enter constructive dialogue with residents about addressing noise concerns with the yard.
After the committee turned down Sainsbury’s application, Councillor West said: “I’m delighted at this decision.
“I hope that Sainsbury’s will now respect that it needs to be a better neighbour to local residents.
“I will be asking that they not only listen to residents’ concerns but that they implement the operational changes in the goods yard they agreed to as part of developing the application.
“Ultimately I think this ageing store needs to be made fit for its modern use by adding a roof to the delivery yard.”
