What happens next?

Thanks to everyone who has supported us over the last two years - especially those of you who were able to make it to the planning meeting. Below is our statement on the sad conclusion that was reached . Looking forward, DROVS intend to play a full part in the negotiation of the planning conditions and traffic plan - there is still a great deal we can do to ensure a safer Dorridge for everyone.

DROVS is disappointed with the conditional approval of the Sainsbury's development.

DROVS never believed that the store needed to be more than three times the size of Tesco in Knowle to meet the needs of Dorridge. We are disappointed that planning policy was largely ignored and that the reduction in the retail space compared to the previous application of under 1 per cent was not recognised by the planners or the councillors. There seemed to be more concern about the costs of an appeal process than in getting the size right for Dorridge.

We hope that DROVS has managed to bring some of the key issues to the public's attention and, in so doing, encouraged a more informed debate about the issues. We regret that the existing residents’ association, DDRA, failed completely in this role.

One of our biggest fears from the beginning was the consequence of increased traffic levels through our residential roads, especially those packed with school children and we still have grave concerns about the spread of parking causing major inconvenience to residents. It’s surprising that Sainsbury’s submitted their application without a traffic plan in place to address these major problems.

We thank our supporters for their efforts so far. We now urge the councillors and the planning committee to focus on these issues at the next stage of the process. Measures need to be put in place before the construction starts and the situation must be monitored going forward with Sainsbury's paying for the work needed. The construction is going to cause tremendous noise and heavy goods traffic and its impact needs to be controlled as well as the on-going operations once the development is open.

DROVS will be looking to work with our councillors and the planning department to make sure this takes place and that our children are protected as much as possible and that inconvenience from the spread of car parking is minimised.