Hillingdon Council's Planning Committee has approved a proposal to install an On-Demand Grocery Hatch
at the Waitrose supermarket located at 9 Kingsend, Ruislip. The decision, made on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, also includes the allocation of a dedicated parking space for delivery vehicles.
The approved plan will see the facade of the supermarket altered to accommodate the new hatch at ground floor level. The hatch itself will be formed by the replacement of an existing glazed shopfront panel and will be integrated within the established shopfront. It measures approximately 1.4m wide by 0.9m high (including frame) and is modest in scale relative to the host building. This facility is intended to streamline the collection of online orders by delivery drivers, allowing them to pick up goods without entering the store.
The dedicated parking space, situated in the customer car park accessed from Wood Lane, aims to reduce instances of illegal parking by delivery riders and provide a safe area for them to wait. This space is located approximately 18 metres from the hatch.
During the planning process, concerns were raised by the council's Highways Team regarding potential highway safety issues related to fly-parking. In response, the applicant amended the proposal to include the dedicated parking space. The Highways Officer has confirmed satisfaction with these changes, subject to conditions requiring the installation of signage and anchor points for the parking space before the hatch becomes operational.
Concerns were also raised by residents and the Ruislip Residents Association regarding the potential use of a pedestrian footpath near the site by delivery riders. To address this, a condition has been attached requiring an Operational Management Plan to be submitted and approved before the hatch is used. This plan will detail how the delivery service will be managed, including instructions for riders to park within the designated space and to avoid using the footpath. The Operational Management Plan will also include details on the collection procedure that delivery collection riders must follow, the enforcement procedure to be put in place by the store to deal with riders who do not follow the procedure, measures to prevent the improper use of pedestrian footpaths, methods of communication between parties of interest, and a review and monitoring procedure for logging and addressing complaints.
The planning committee was informed that the proposed hatch would operate between 7:00 AM and 10:30 PM daily, with some collections potentially occurring outside of the supermarket's standard opening hours. A condition has been imposed to restrict the operating hours of the hatch to between 7:00 AM and 10:30 PM, Monday to Sunday, including bank holidays.
Officers concluded that the proposal, with the attached conditions, would not have a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the building or the surrounding area, nor would it cause significant harm to highway safety or the amenities of neighbouring properties. The decision was made in accordance with relevant national, regional, and local planning policies, including Chapter 16 (Conserving and enhancing the historic environment) and Chapter 12 (Achieving well-designed places) of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), Policies HC1 (Heritage conservation and growth), T4 (Assessing and mitigating transport impacts), T6 (Car parking), and T6.3 (Retail parking) of the London Plan (2021), and Hillingdon Local Plan policies such as BE1 (Built Environment), HE1 (Heritage), DMHB 1 (Heritage Assets), DMHB 4 (Conservation Areas), DMHB 11 (Design of New Development), DMHB 12 (Streets and Public Realm), DMT 1 (Managing Transport Impacts), DMT 2 (Highways Impacts), DMT 5 (Pedestrians and Cyclists), and DMT 6 (Vehicle Parking).
The council will monitor compliance through the review and monitoring procedure outlined in the Operational Management Plan, which includes how complaints will be logged and addressed. Additionally, the requirement for the submission and approval of signage and anchor points for the parking space, and their subsequent maintenance, will be overseen by the Local Planning Authority. The hatch will not be operational until the Operational Management Plan details have been approved.
See the Agenda frontsheet and Public reports pack for more details on the planning committee meeting.