Coles supermarket in Cowes seeks to permanently amend its delivery hours, under a planning permit application out for community comment.

Under its original planning permit, delivery hours at Coles were from 7am to 11am, and 5pm to 10pm,  Monday to Saturday, and 7am to 3pm on Sundays.

During the pandemic and since that time Coles has operated under extended hours, accepting deliveries from 7am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, and 7am to 5pm Sunday. 

The store manager states the extended hours trial period has been “without incident”, and the store has “not received any negative feedback or complaints” about the extended delivery schedule.

“Following a successful trial period, we are writing to request the delivery hours at the site be permanently amended in line with trial hours,” the Coles planning permit states.

“Coles takes its obligations as a responsible retailer and community partner very seriously, and it has been important to understand the impact and benefits this trial has.”

According to Coles, in the past trucks that miss approved hours have waited or returned to the distribution centre without unloading “due to the restrictive curfews”. 

“Unfortunately, this adversely impacts both business operations and product availability at the site. 

“Under the extended hours however, the teams have greater flexibility to accommodate late arrivals ensuring safety, compliance, and community’s needs are not compromised.”