Replacement Hart District Local Plan 1996-2002

Adopted December 2002

The text in the Adopted Local Plan concerning Proposals for Yateley Town Centre (at page 66) is exactly the same as in the Replacement Hart District Local Plan 1996-2002 Deposit Draft 1996, making reference to "the recent shopping survey carried out in Yateley showed that 39% of shoppers also regularly shopped at Camberley and 29% at the Meadows", concluding that the "continued prosperity of Yateley Town Centre is threatened by nearby competing centres, and to some extent by out-out-town shopping across the County boundary at the Meadows."

Commentary by the Yateley Society (PJT 14 Nov 2005 revised 9 Dec 2005)

The Adopted Local Plan currently controls any planning applications within the designated Town Centre area. The shopping survey quoted in the text was originally prepared for the Yateley Town Centre Management Plan 1994, and were therefore out-of-date by 2002 by some 8 years, making no mention of Waitrose.

Waitrose and two associated convenience stores had opened on the Monteagle Park estate in the far west of Yateley in 1989 and so had been operating for some dozen years by 2002. This vibrant retail area contains a large free car park, a new surgery, a community hall and a substantial number of recycling skips. The effect, of course, on the centre of Yateley has been considerable. A new comprehensive shopping survey has now been carried out as part of the Market Towns 'Health Check'. It will appear on this website shortly. The Yateley Society has monitored the continuing trend in the centre of Yateley to convenience stores and fast food outlets. More recently the Esso petrol station has allowed the conversion of its payment kiosk and shop to a Tesco Express - on a site very close to the original supermarket now operated by Somerfield. The latter's marketing response has been to purchase the adjacent, previously privately owned, Texaco petrol station.

Thirty years ago Yateley had two supermarkets in the area covered by the Town Centre Plan. There were four DIY stores, two in the town centre and two operating in neighbourhood shopping locations at Aylesham and Tudor Drive.

Now there are no DIY stores. There is a Homebase at the Meadows, and a very large B&Q in Farnborough. Yateley now has, in order of arrival, a Somerfield, a Waitrose and a Tesco Express. There are two other early-to-late opening convenience stores, one at Church End, the other at Tudor Drive. Even so some Yateley people still do their weekly food shopping at the huge Tesco and the Marks & Spencer at the Meadows, or at Sainsbury's conveniently located near M3 Junction 4. The availability of cheaper petrol at the very large supermarkets must be factored into the equation.

This new world of seven day shopping is mentioned in the Adopted Local Plan. The District and County Councils were party to the Blackwater Shopping Study which initiated the huge development at the Meadows. This development can hardly be called 'out-of-town' since development is now continuous from Old Dean in the east of Camberley to Darby Green, and from Owl Moor in Sandhurst to Aldershot. The Meadows, and nearby Sainsbury's, are conveniently placed to serve this whole region.

The shopping conclusions of the Local Plan are however still correct: there is a "continued need for neighbourhood shopping in Yateley". But what does need to be stated is that promotion in the local planning process of anything other than convenience stores is very unlikely to succeed. This conclusion works against sustainability arguments and the objective of reducing car traffic. Even if public transportation were to be improved Yateley people will continue to use their cars regularly for food shopping, DIY, and consumer durables. This means that measures aimed at reducing car use such as traffic calming, town centre parking spaces and other restictions such as reduction in parking spaces per dwelling, all will have no effect on car usage and will serve only to annoy Yateley people, and to increase journey mileages to the same destinations, avoiding bumps and restrictive measures.

The big question therefore, if Yateley people will continue to be very car dependent with one of the highest car ownership ratios in the country, in compensation what we can do to make Yateley more sustainable. This question thus forms one of the major KeyIssues of the Parish Plan. Please email us your ideas and suggestions using the email link on the SideBar.

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