Three seperate retail developments planned for Exeter, including one 124,075 sq ft site which was recommended for approval, have been rejected at a special meeting of the city council's planning committee.
The committee met to determine the fate of four proposed sites, three of which were recommended for refusal while one was recommended for approval.
The Moor Exchange development which was recommended for approval, is currently 7.9 acres of agricultural land to the east of Exeter, north of Honiton Road. The applicants are GPG Development Projects and Growen Estates.
A 160,000 sq ft development proposed by British Land Retail Warehouses for the B&Q south of Honiton Road on the Sowton Industrial Estate, and an 85,700 sq ft development proposed by Richard Walker Developments for the former Western Power Distribution site also on the Sowton Industrial Estate were both also rejected.
A fourth application, a 152,000 sq ft development proposed by Hammerson for the former Devon and Cornwall Police Headquarters, was withdrawn ahead of the meeting.
The report to be considered by councillors on the recommended Moor Exchange development read: "This revised application is one of four pending applications for significant retail and associated development along the Honiton Road corridor to the east of the city.
"Following members’ resolution of the previous application, all four applications are being brought to committee at the same time, so that a choice can be made on which should be approved taking into account their merits and cumulative impacts. This follows the advice of the council’s external retail consultant, Avison Young
"Avison Young have calculated the impact of the revised proposal on the city centre as two to three per cent for both convenience and comparison goods, while the impact on St Thomas District Centre will be four to five per cent for convenience goods and seven per cent for comparison goods.
"These financial impacts are slightly less than the previous applications and therefore cannot be considered to be significantly adverse.
"Avison Young have also carried out a cumulative retail impact assessment of this application and the applications on the WPD Depot and B&Q sites.
"It did not include the application on the police headquarters site, due to an objection by the Local Highway Authority to this scheme over the access arrangements.
"The cumulative assessment concludes that only one of the proposed schemes should be permitted to avoid significant adverse impacts on Exeter city centre and St Thomas District Centre.
"Due to its close proximity to housing in Hill Barton Vale and wider mix of uses that have been introduced, this application is considered to be the most sustainable out of the three."