Proposals for Aldi and KFC at Horsted Retail Park were back on the table for last night’s planning meeting.

The committee met last month to discuss the proposals and councillors agreed they could not make a decision on the site with uncertainty hanging over the Toys R Us building.

More on the new Toys R Us store is expected this week.

At the meeting in March, Labour Cllr Glyn Griffiths said: “I support [KFC and Aldi application] in principle. But I am in real difficulty.

“How can we say what to put in the unit when we don't know what Toys R Us will be used for?

"One would like to think it will be more successful and so have a greater usage of the car park.

“I’m not sure we can safeguard impact of local area into Davis Estate when we have got such a huge question mark.”

These sentiments were supported by the Tories, with Cllr Martin Potter saying they were judging an application about the unknown.

It was agreed the decision would be deferred.

Although the question mark over the store remains, applicants Royal London, believe it has evidence to reassure people on their parking concerns.

Senior asset manager, Yasin Sadiq, said: “We have sought to address members’ concerns by providing further information on key matters, including parking provision and highways.

“Specifically, we have provided evidence which shows that parking provision within our proposals is greater than comparative Aldi Stores and retail parks in the area, and that there would be significant capacity within the car park if the existing Toys R Us unit is occupied by other retailers in the future.

“While we can understand some of the concerns over the uncertainty surrounding the Toys R Us unit, this is not the crux of our planning application, which would introduce new retail facilities and significant benefits to the local area.

“In fact, our proposals would actually deliver greater certainty for the future of this gateway site and offset the negative consequences of the Toys R Us closure.

“By approving our planning application members would secure £6 million of investment and 100 jobs on what will soon be a vacant, disused site they will also increase the likelihood of the current Toys R Us unit being re-let.”

See next week’s Messenger for details on the decision.