A CAR showroom is set to relocate to a site in Houndmills after it was granted planning permission for the development. 


Harwoods Ltd has been given the go-ahead by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to build a car showroom, vehicle servicing and associated storage, delivery and administration facilities, at a site in Joule Road, Basingstoke. 


The company has also been given permission to alter the car parking and landscaping to include additional showroom space, enclosed upper storey parking and a vehicular access ramp. 


The company was previously granted planning permission for a similar scheme in 2012, and planned to relocate its existing Jaguar and Land Rover franchises, currently located in Edison Road, also in Houndmills, Basingstoke, to the new site. 


However, it deferred the plans after The Jaguar Land Rover Group (JLR) introduced a new corporate branding identity which requires franchises to produce “buildings of greater architectural quality” and to address the need for “greater efficiencies” in response to predictions that sales and service activity is set to increase. 


The original application was submitted after Jaguar and Land Rover were combined following the takeover by the Tata Automotive Group Ltd (TAG), and it became a requirement that both of these brands should be sold alongside each other. 


The new application, submitted in December 2014 and approved in October 2015, said: “It quickly became clear that the existing facilities were chronically undersized.”


In 2012 Harwoods Group Ltd was also planning for future expansion so that both franchises in Basingstoke could be retained without having to move to facilities elsewhere. 


The application said: “This in turn will lead to an increased requirement for sales staff, administration staff, drivers, technicians and parts personnel all of whom can be sourced locally and will increase the number of onsite employees.”


Harwoods Ltd has now applied to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to vary a condition of the planning permission, which states that the premises can only open to the public and be in operation between 8am and 6pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays. 


The applicant has asked to amend this condition to 7am to 7pm Mondays to Saturdays. 


The opening times on Sundays would remain the same. 


It states: “These changes are required to ensure the applicant can operate in its full capacity as a service industry and ensure they can meet both the business/brand, staff and customer needs at all times.”


It adds that the site needs to open to staff at 7am so they can prepare the site for the day. 


The application states: “This includes clearing of offices, showrooms, workshops etc. as well as administrative preparation for the day. Harwoods also needs to be able to offer their staff flexible working hours and some need to start or finish earlier, which fits in with the customer requirements. 


“The very nature of current work patterns means that customers require to drop their vehicle off in order to allow time for their journey to work.”