The building of a new Sainsbury's store has been delayed again after an appeal was lodged.
The appeal comes after the case was referred to the Secretary of State which was then followed with a High Court ruling that it was to be built - but only after an appeal period had passed.
The former Homebase site on Meols Cop Retail Park in Southport has been earmarked for the new superstore since the initial planning application was submitted in 2015, with news breaking last month that it had finally been passed.
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The appeal is believed to have come from Southport and Windsor Properties shortly after the approval had been passed for the site from the High Court.
The approval came with non-negotiable conditions, with the main condition being that they are not permitted to close their town centre store located on St. George's Place within five years of their Meols Cop store opening.
In 2017, Sainsbury’s received planning permission to demolish the former Homebase site at Meols Cop Retail Park and build a 60,000 sq ft store and petrol station.
The application was highly contentious and only approved following a five-day public inquiry, called for by former Southport MP and now councillor John Pugh in 2015.
The initial inquiry cost more than £130k of local taxpayers’ money and the four years spent revising the plans have meant countless hours of labour for council officers, piling more and more on to the bill.
But despite the plans being approved, work didn't start and in October 2018, Sainsbury’s formally submitted new plans for a smaller 50,000 sq ft store at the same site.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury's said: “We’re disappointed by the additional delay this appeal will have on the construction of a new Sainsbury’s supermarket for Southport.
"Once the outcome of the appeal has been confirmed, we’ll keep the local community updated on our plans.”
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