Greenwich residents have successfully pushed back against a proposal to extend the opening hours of an Asda store on Greenwich South Street, leading to a deferral of the decision by the Local Planning Committee.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich Local Planning Committee met on Monday, 7 July 2025, to discuss an application to amend condition 17 of planning permission 21/1884/MA for the commercial unit at 123 Greenwich South Street. The current restrictions on Sunday and bank holiday opening hours are 7am to 10pm. The amendment sought to extend these Sunday and bank holiday opening hours to match those of Monday to Saturday, from 6am to 11pm. According to the applicant's cover letter, the extended hours are needed to provide consistent operations so that Asda can optimise their trading from the unit
and so the store can operate in a standard manner of a small scale convenience store as would be expected by customers of that location.
Residents, however, raised concerns about the potential disruption caused by the extended hours, specifically the additional noise generated from operation prior to 8am and after 10pm on Sundays and public holidays, which they argued would result in unacceptable noise pollution impacts on the amenity enjoyed by nearby properties.
Councillor Aidan Smith voiced his objection, stating that the extended hours would disrupt local residents. Jonathan Wilson, a local resident, expressed his frustration, noting that the store had advertised the proposed hours despite the council's previous refusal of a similar application (Ref: 24/1204/MA).
The council previously refused a similar application because the proposed extended hours for deliveries and servicing would result in unacceptable noise pollution impacts on the amenity enjoyed by neighbouring properties. According to Neil Willey, the current proposal differs in that it only seeks to amend the hours of operation for the store, not the hours for deliveries and servicing, stating that the current application has addressed the grounds on which the previous application was refused.
The committee decided to defer the decision, requesting a review of the video recording of the previous meeting where a similar application was discussed. They also asked the applicant to provide data on expected footfall during the proposed extended hours. It is implied that the committee will use this data to assess the potential impact of the extended hours on local residents, particularly in terms of noise and disturbance.
The outcome of the meeting will determine whether the shop will be allowed to operate under the extended hours, or if the current restrictions will remain in place. A new timeline for the review of the video recording and the submission of footfall data, and when the decision is expected to be made, was not explicitly stated.
