A supermarket in Shaw that submitted a proposal for a 24-hour delivery service has been refused.

In December 2020, the Asda store on Greenfield Lane submitted an application to Oldham Council in a bid to remove three conditions that were imposed on the site in 2015.

The conditions mean no service vehicles or vehicles with refrigeration units can enter, leave, be loaded or unloaded within the site boundary of the supermarket before 6am and after 10pm, Monday to Saturday, and before 9am and after 5pm on Sundays and bank holidays.

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This is to protect the amenities of nearby properties.

However, Asda said the removal of the conditions would enable the supermarket to take deliveries 24 hours a day and enable it to "address the difficulties which the current delivery hour restrictions present to trading". 

A supporting statement by Pegasus Group said the supermarket has experienced "heightened demand" for home deliveries and click-and-collect orders since the pandemic.

As a result, the shelves in the supermarket are "often seen empty of products, especially fresh produce" before the first delivery arrives at 6am - just one hour before the supermarket opens to the public which it claims is not sufficient time to restock the shelves.

Pegasus continues that increased flexibility would enable the store to fulfil home deliveries and click-and-collect orders for vulnerable customers and those who wish to "minimise human contact".

In addition, it would reduce the number of Asda employees on the shop floor as 24-hour deliveries enable the supermarket to pick products during closing hours.

As the application was submitted at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the statement added the move to delivery services would minimise the potential transmission rates of the virus.

It would also improve pedestrian paths and highways, reduce congestion and improve air quality by reducing carbon emissions, it argued.

The supermarket giant said it did not receive any noise complaints when it increased delivery operations at its service yard in response to the pandemic demand, and proposed several mitigation measures in support of its 24-hour delivery service plan.

This included keeping service yard gates open, so lorries didn't have to wait at the gates, no revere alarms, fridge units turned off, and drivers being briefed on turning off their engines when unloading and being 'careful' to minimise banging and rattling.

Pegasus added: "Not only would this secure substantial economic benefits, but it would also ensure customers have access to a wide range of high-quality products and enhance their quality of life.

"Importantly, these benefits can be achieved with no adverse impacts to neighbouring amenity or to the surrounding environment resulting from undue noise disturbance."

Despite this, four neighbours wrote objections to the plans, citing "nuisance" and "vibrations" that shake their homes when lorries drive past.

An objector said: "This is acceptable during the day as I am likely to be [at] work or awake.

"To have this going on during the night would have an adverse impact on my sleep and health.

"Having shopped at Asda throughout the pandemic, apart from the nationwide shortages, I have not struggled due to low stocked shelves and believe Asda are using the pandemic as an excuse to try and extend the delivery hours."

Another objector said "our small roads cannot take any more of a beating" from large delivery wagons and that a 24-hour Asda delivery service "would cause a horrendous amount of noise". 

A third described the noise from lorries as "deafening".

Environmental health and Shaw and Crompton Parish Council also objected to the plans on the grounds it would impact residents.

Oldham Council agreed that the proposed increased delivery times would result in noise, activity and disturbance from the vehicles when unloading and when moving through the streets at all hours of the day which would impact neighbouring residents.

As a result, the local authority refused the plans on Monday (August 5) this week.

Got a story? Email me Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk