After seven years of arguments, Harrogate opens door to superstore – on the site of a former gasworks

The last remaining postcode in the UK mainland without a Tesco supermarket is closer to losing its unusual status.

Councillors in Harrogate, north Yorkshire, have voted in favour of a store which was first proposed by the company seven years ago on the derelict site of the town's former gasworks.

Three hectares of weeds and concrete between Electric Avenue and the Little Wonder roundabout have been targeted by the firm since 2004 when it paid £3.5m to add them to its land bank.

The HG code has two Tesco Expresses, but no full-sized outlet.

A special planning committee of Harrogate district council approved the development by 10 votes to three with one abstention after a testy meeting interrupted by protests. Opposition to the 7,345 sq metre (79,000 sq ft), 24-hour outlet remains vigorous, based on fears for the future of smaller shops in a town famous for retail ever since its early 19th-century popularity as the site of a sulphurous "stinking spa".

There has also been concern about traffic and possible contamination of the site from its long use as a gasworks. Opponents intend to fight on against the proposal.

Supporters point to the success of existing supermarkets in Harrogate, side by side with smaller shops, and the benefits of some 360 full- and part-time jobs, which are expected to come with the building and staffing of a superstore. Geoff Webber, North Yorkshire county councillor for New Park, where the site stands on the corner of the Skipton and Ripon roads, said that in an area of high employment, these would be snapped up.

Tesco welcomed the decision, which follows revisions to the original plan submitted in 2007 but was withdrawn in the face of objections the following year. The current application, making the shop smaller and with more sustainable features, was first submitted in 2009, revised last year and has been making its way through the planning system since then.

It still requires approval from the full council and the backing of the Health and Safety Executive, which previously advised against the plan and could ask the secretary of state for communities and local government, Eric Pickles, for a public inquiry.

• This article was amended on 9 September 2011. The original said incorrectly that the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland did not have full-sized Tesco outlets. This has been deleted.