Sainsbury's lodges plans for new Cheshire convenience store
It's earmarked for land next to a hotel
Artist impression of the new store on Cronton Lane.(Image: Planning documents)
A Sainsbury’s convenience store could be built next to a landmark hotel if plans are given the go-ahead. An application has been lodged with Halton Council to build the ‘Sainsbury’s local’ on land next to the Hillcrest Hotel on Cronton Lane, in Widnes, creating 20 jobs.
The site is currently a disused former hotel overspill car park, but the planning application said that since the Hillcrest no longer holds events such as weddings, the car park was now ‘surplus to requirements’. It said the hotel industry was undergoing ‘unprecedented challenges’ and that it was ‘imperative’ for hotels to ‘explore alternative revenue streams’ to sustain their operations.
It said: “Leveraging underutilised spaces offers a practical solution. The proposed development of a convenience store on the unused overspill parking area to the west of the hotel represents one such opportunity.” The application document said the plans would generate ‘vital income’ for the hotel business, supporting its long-term viability and preserving existing jobs.
It added: “The investment into this site will contribute towards the operational viability of the hotel in terms of financial investment, improving the setting of the hotel and providing a local retail facility that could be used by visitors to and staff at the hotel.”
The opening hours of the proposed store would be 7am-11pm, It would have 17 car parking spaces, including one disabled space. The application added: “The operational nature of a store in this location is that it will attract a high level of access by non-car modes, including on-foot and by bicycle.”
It is the second application for a convenience store involving a national supermarket chain in the area to be lodged in recent weeks, with Asda currently awaiting a verdict on an application to demolish its existing petrol station on Lunts Heath Road and replace it with an Asda Express and petrol forecourt.