A NEW application by supermarket giant Sainsbury’s to sell a wider variety of goods at its Water Lane store has attracted objections by Farnham Town Council and The Farnham Society.

Sainsbury’s is currently permitted to sell ‘comparison goods’ such as clothing, household appliances and electricals in just 15 per cent of its Water Lane supermarket - a condition agreed in its 1999 application for a new 12,000 square feet extension designed to protect Farnham town centre retailers.

However, the UK’s third largest supermarket chain has applied for Waverley Borough Council’s permission to relax this limitation to allow up to 40 per cent of the sales and display area of the extended store to be used for the sale or display of comparison goods.

This has breathed new life into a debate last had a decade and a half ago, with fresh concerns expressed that the town centre may suffer if the application is given the go-ahead.

Farnham Town Council has objected to Sainsbury’s latest bid “on the grounds of its adverse effect on the viability of town centre stores” while planning watchdog The Farnham Society has argued the impact of the out-of-town supermarket on the town centre is likely to be even worse now than initially feared in 1999.

David Howell, chairman of the society’s planning committee, said: “In combination with the proposed Brightwells’ additional 10,000 square metres of retail space, 4,000 square metres proposed commercial and retail space within the Woolmead redevelopment and the accelerating change in consumer purchasing trends, the proposed relaxation of the condition will, more than likely, impact on the vitality and viability of the town centre in the current and changing retail climate.”

Sainsbury’s latest application includes a 22-page ‘retail impact assessment’ by consultants WYG which argues that the impact on Farnham town centre would “not be significantly adverse”.

According to WYG, the impact of the additional comparison goods area would be felt hardest by other out-of-town superstores, not the town centre, and shops in Farnham may indeed benefit from a reduction in sales of food, drinks and other ‘convenience goods’ at Water Lane.

However, this assessment has not swayed the supermarket’s objectors, including Mark Westcott - a Rowledge-based architect and candidate in the recent Surrey County Council by-election, who carried out a survey of Farnham town centre shops last week ahead of submitting his own objections to Waverley.

Mr Westcott said: “There are currently 15 shop units taken by charity shops and in addition there are 14 empty shop units. Neither are signifiers of a healthy town.

“I strongly believe that despite the retail report submitted by (Sainsbury’s) planning consultants, which is full of barely understandable and confusing tables, statistics and claims, there is absolutely no doubt that allowing Sainsbury’s Water Lane to increase the proportion of shop floor for comparison goods will have a considerable, adverse and very negative impact on the retail offer in central Farnham and will contribute to and aggravate a worsening situation.”

Sainsbury’s plans can be viewed in full online at www.waverley.gov.uk/planning under reference WA/2016/1396. The deadline for comments has passed with Waverley expected to reach a decision on the application by early October.