A charity hopes to open a new store in a retail park unit that has been vacant for a number of years – but councillors are concerned about the extra traffic it could bring.

The store at Springfields Retail Park in Trent Vale was previously occupied by Carpet Right, who stopped trading at the site in 2019.

Now the Salvation Army is planning to move in – and is seeking permission to change a planning condition to lift restrictions on the range of goods that can be sold there. The application was considered by Stoke-on-Trent City Council's planning committee on Wednesday (August 16).

Councillor Ross Irving said: "I'm a bit concerned on this around traffic flows. This type of use generates considerable traffic movements.

"The bulk of people wanting to travel here would have to travel by car. Are there any investigations as to how that junction is going to cope with the extra type of traffic a charity shop will perhaps generate?

"I live near the Dougie Mac shop in Meir and it's really busy. A lot of people walk to it but I think here, because of the lack of housing in close proximity, I'm fearful it will generate more traffic than existed with a carpet shop."

The unit has been empty since Carpet Right stopped trading there in 2019 (Google).

But Councillor Laura Carter said: "I think that wouldn't necessarily happen – people visit that site for all the shops there. The concern for me is the new Aldi junction."

Councillors agreed to defer their decision on Wednesday so that more information could come forward about the impact of the proposed new store on traffic. They also questioned where visitors would be able to drop off donations and raised concerns about the impact on town centre shops.

Councillor Andy Platt said: "This site was approved 30 years ago – I sat on the committee and I was against it then. My concern is town centres and I want to protect them."

But Councillor Dave Evans said: "We can't put the genie back in the bottle. The reality is we have out of town retail centres – we have for 20 or 25 years.

"We have seen the impact and we can't change it. We do have other charity shops in out of town areas – from my perspective it's a good use.

"I drive to Festival Park because I can park outside. That's people and that's the society we live in."

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