Creasey’s, which operates the local M&S franchise, is in the midst of removing the existing petrol station and creating a much larger store on the Les Merriennes site. When the project was announced last year, it was confirmed the store was expected to stay open during the work.
Now a planning application has been submitted for a temporary structure on the gravel car park at the back of the St Martin’s site.
The single-storey, aluminium-framed, warehouse-style building would be half food storage and half supermarket. The temporary shop would include chillers, freezers and a bakery section, and would also have lighting, heating and ventilation. Details included in the application noted that this type of building could be quickly erected.
Project architect Andrew Male said they would like to order the structure quickly, so the supermarket could move over soon.
‘The extent of the works required would be difficult to undertake whilst the existing retail outlet continues to trade, so in order to speed up the construction process and to minimise health and safety concerns, it is proposed to move the retail unit to a temporary building for the duration of the construction works,’ he said in the application.
The walls would be made of a vinyl, fire-retardant fabric, with two skins. On the outside would be metal insulated panels, and the area between the skins would be inflated with air to provide insulation.
The fabric and walls would be supported by an aluminium frame.
Mr Male said the structure would either be weighted down or secured with long metal spikes.
Inside the building would have a temporary wooden floor to give a flat surface.
‘All these elements are easily dismounted when the retail unit moves back to the main building and the structure will probably be returned to the UK supplier,’ Mr Male said.
There will also be a number of mobile cabins on the site, which will be used for toilets and staff rest facilities.
It is also proposed that a permanent 2m-high boarded fence go around the site to provide more privacy for neighbours and reduce noise.
The planners queried how long the structure could be up. Mr Male responded that this would depend how long the M&S work took, but suggested a planning condition that the building come down within three weeks of the M&S work being completed.
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.