REVISED plans to increase the size of a potential supermarket for Somerford have been submitted to Christchurch Council.

Despite approval for a food store at Meteor Retail Park in Somerford along with two other non-food outlets, developers Brookhouse have now applied for permission for a single store housing the supermarket.

A statement from the company, who were awarded permission last year, said: “The proposal is a minor revision to the existing planning permission at its Meteor Retail Park and seeks to re-configure all the retail floorspace in the existing permission into a single building to meet foodstore operator requirements.

“Earlier this year the site owner was granted permission to redevelop the Meteor Retail Park with a 30,000 square feet foodstore and two 10,000 square feet non-food retail outlets.”

Tom Whitehead, Brookhouse Group planning manager, said: “The proposal follows the earlier unanimous decision of the council to confirm that Meteor Retail Park is an appropriate location to meet the food retailing needs in Christchurch and is submitted to meet foodstore operator requirements.

“Proposals for a foodstore at Meteor Retail Park benefit from significant local support.

“We are meeting local stakeholders over the next few weeks to discuss the latest plans with them.

“It remains the case that our proposals will deliver significant investment and jobs in the local area.

"Importantly, it will also bring back to use an eyesore site on a gateway into Christchurch.”

It is understood representatives from the Somerford Community Partnership and other community groups met with the applicants this week.