DETAILED plans for a new supermarket in Chipping Sodbury will be decided by a South Gloucestershire Council committee, it was revealed this week.

The final set of plans for a Waitrose store, 160 houses and a bridge over the River Frome linking the High Street with the development on Barnhill Quarry, is to be analysed by councillors on the development control (east) committee.

It means the decision will not be made by council officers but by elected representatives.

The announcement comes after residents, who are concerned about the impact the development will have on car parking in Chipping Sodbury, pressed Chipping Sodbury district councillors Adrian Rush and Linda Boon (both Lib Dem) to ‘call-in’ the decision and request it is made by the committee.

Earlier this month, Cllr Rush told the Gazette there was ‘no reason’ to call the plans to committee.

"The application has been through the democratic process and has been consulted on more than any other application I know of," he said.

However, Cllr Rush confirmed the plans would now be decided on by a committee of 13 councillors at a date yet to be confirmed, although it is expected the application will be scheduled for the committee’s meeting on July 5.

Thornbury and Yate MP Steve Webb, who has held meetings between campaign group Keep Sodbury Safer and Waitrose, said he was not surprised by the move.

He said: "Given that it is quite a contentious application, I am not at all surprised it has been called in."