// Ocado has now submitted a new bid to build its new depot in Tufnell Park
// The grocer argues the previous rejection was due to a technicality which has now been excluded from the documents
Ocado has submitted a new bid to use a Tufnell Park site for “storage and distribution” after its previous application was refused.
The online supermarket has now applied for a certificate of lawfulness of existing use for the Bush Industrial Estate, Unit A to D Station Road.
The online supermarket had been allowed to use the site in April 2019 before Islington Council reversed its approval due to backlash and campaigning by residents and families from neighbouring Yerbury Primary school.
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After losing a High Court bid last summer to overturn the revocation the business then made another application last September which was rejected by the council in February.
In the most recent application, Ocado argues the previous rejection was due to a technicality concerning Unit E, which has now been excluded from the documents.
A spokesperson said: “Ocado is committed to having a positive impact on the local community.
“This would be the greenest and quietest grocery facility in the UK, and we would commit to using a 100% electric delivery van fleet – replacing the vans that currently deliver in the area – and install a green ‘living wall’ along the boundary. It would also create around 300 new jobs for the local economy.”
The submission comes after councillors Janey Burgess MBE, Tricia Clarke, Sheila Chapman, Satnam Gill, Gulcin Ozdemir, and council leader Kaya Comer-Schwartz signed a letter last month calling for Ocado to submit a full planning application to ensure a “transparent and fair process”.
The letter read: “A transparent and fair process would be for Ocado to submit a full planning application for the site, setting out its plans in detail and being subject to a full, independent impact assessment.
“This would allow local people to have their say on the proposals and ensure the scrutiny that important plans such as these require. We implore Ocado to submit a full planning application, rather than exploring further loopholes.”
Islington Council now must make a decision on the matter by September 8.
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