RETAILER Next has won a battle with Luton Borough Council over what it can sell at its new store in Chaul End Lane.
The fashion giant is set to open in the former MFI building in July, and last week signs advertising the new 17,602 sq ft store went up outside.
Next’s initial planning application to the council requested permission to sell children’s clothing as well as homewares, but they were turned down, on the grounds that children’s clothing was not in line with the goods sold by other retailers in the area.
Planners at the council decided the clothes section would mean the store would be “out of keeping with the function and character of the surrounding area, and would be harmful to that established character which comprises predominantly comparison goods retailers.”
They added: “To encourage the introduction of fashion retail sales, even on a seemingly restricted small scale, would effectively be confirming that this is considered acceptable as a matter of principle.”
But following the rejection, Next appealed, citing the building’s varied planning history, and has now been given the go-ahead.
A spokesman for the company said the council had now “granted an open planning consent that allows Next to sell clothes”.
Luton Borough Council said Next had compared its situation with other cases in which permission had been granted.
A spokesman for the authority said: “Planning permission was refused in October last year to extend the range of goods that could be sold from the store to include children’s wear.
“Following that decision, the applicants drew the council’s attention to a number of appeal cases which accepted that, in specific circumstances, similar restrictions on the sale of retail goods did not apply.
“Those circumstances were analogous to the situation which prevailed at the site in Chaul End Lane, and on the basis, the applicants subsequently submitted an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness for the purposes of establishing that the retail sale of children’s wear is lawful.
“Based on the evidence submitted, including the precedent set by previous case law examples, the certificate was issued.”
Next said it hopes to open the store, its first stand-alone home store in Luton, early in July. It has not yet been able to say how many jobs will be created by the new store.