WAVERLEY Borough Council has given Sainsbury’s the green light to sell a wider variety of goods at its Water Lane store despite fears it may have a detrimental knock-on effect in Farnham town centre.

On the request of the UK’s third largest supermarket chain, the council’s head of planning, Elizabeth Sims, has agreed to relax a historic limitation on the amount of ‘comparison goods’ allowed to be sold at the out-of-town store.

It means Sainsbury’s can now sell ‘comparison goods’ such as clothing, household appliances and electricals in 40 per cent of the supermarket, up from the 15 per cent agreed in its 1999 application for a new 12,000 square feet extension at Water Lane.

The limitation was agreed by councillors a decade and a half ago to safeguard Farnham town centre retailers, and was relaxed by Mrs Sims outside of a planning committee under ‘delegated powers’.

Sainsbury’s latest application attracted objections by Farnham Town Council and The Farnham Society - both of whom warned it would harm the town’s traders, who they said are already losing trade to online shopping.

However, Sainsbury’s application included a 22-page ‘retail impact assessment’ by consultants WYG which argued the impact on Farnham town centre would “not be significantly adverse”.

And Waverley’s case officer Rachel Kellas, and Mrs Sims, ultimately accepted the supermarket’s argument.

In her report, the planning officer concluded: “The applicant has provided appropriate justification to demonstrate that the proposed variation of condition would not result in an adverse impact on the vitality and viability of Farnham town centre.

“It is therefore concluded that there are no adverse impacts that would outweigh the benefits of the application when assessed against the policies in the National Planning Policy Framework.”