Food store one step closer following planning approval

Plans for a food store at Madford Retail Park have received a boost after East Herts Council approved changes to a retail unit and the car park.

Agents for the site owners had applied for permission to change the entrance, rear and elevations of Unit 1, reconfigure the existing internal mezzanine, and add a new trolley bay and cycle parking. The unit is currently occupied by a Matalan store.

A number of objections were raised regarding access to the site but Hertfordshire Highways commented that the access road was privately owned and not part of the public highway. Furthermore the authority deemed that the food retail use of the site would not be detrimental to the surrounding highway network.

Planning officers also noted that the principle of a food store on the site had already been establish as part of an earlier planning application and therefore the fell outside the curerent application.

A planning application for changes at Unit 2, currently occupied by Wickes, has also been submitted.

The future of Wickes is also unclear, with the retailers lease due to expires at the end of 2025.

Potential food retailers for the site are rumoured to include Lidl, B&M or the Food Warehouse.

Update 28/11/24: An earlier version of this report wrongly identified Unit 1, occupied by Wickes, as the site that had been granted planning permission. We apologise for this error.