Ocado blocked from opening new depot near primary school
Ocado has had its appeal to open a new depot near a London primary school blocked by the Planning Inspectorate, bringing an end to a five-year row. 
The online supermarket had originally applied for permission to open a depot near Yerbury Primary School in Tufnell Park, North London.
It was forced to take its proposal to both the High Court and the Court of Appeal after Islington Council rejected Ocado’s request three times, and failed to grant it the Lawful Development Certificate it needed.
Ocado’s plans were also hampered by campaigners, made up of parents at the school and local residents, who formed a ‘NOcado’ campaign, which argued that the location was unsuitable due to how close it was to the primary school.
The Inspectorate’s four day hearing took place last month and saw Ocado argue that it would use a fully electric vehicle fleet and that the new site was due to create hundreds of local jobs.
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The supermarket also attempted to prove that the site had previously been used “by BT as a storage depot for some 20 years between 1992 and 2013”.
However the Inspectorate ultimately ruled that the retailer’s evidence was not “sufficiently precise and unambiguous” and that the council’s original decision to reject the building proposal was “well founded”.
A spokeswoman for Ocado Retail told the Standard: “The site would have been the greenest grocery facility in the UK.
“Our plans would have removed diesel vans from Islington and replaced them with a 100% electric fleet, and created 300 new jobs for the local economy.
“However, as we acquired this site four years ago, the location is not part of our current business plan. We are in discussions to find an alternative occupier for the site.”
