FOLLOWING East Hampshire District Council's refusal to allow extended delivery hours at Sainsbury's supermarket, a one-day appeal is due to take place in the Canada Room at the Millennium Centre on December 16, starting at 10am.
Current deliveries start at the Midhurst Road store, at 7am and continue until 9.20pm and involve a total of 12 deliveries per day made by six large articulated lorries and a number of smaller vans.
The supermarket giant had applied to extend deliveries from 5am right through until midnight claiming it frequent ran short of fresh produce and wanted to meet consumer demand.
Sainsbury's provided a noise assessment with its planning application, stating that the noise level would be increased by two decibels, which is acceptable, but the report was based on closed windows in the neighbouring residential areas of Chiltley Manor and Ottawa Drive.
Sainsbury's offered to extent the existing acoustic fence from three metres to four metres and altering the approach route for lorries through the middle of the car park away from the perimeter road, thereby losing eight car parking spaces.
Planning permission was refused on the grounds that the extension of delivery hours, if permitted, could give rise to unacceptable levels of activity and potential nuisance and disturbance to nearby residents at unsocial hours, to the detriment of the adjoining residential area.