A SUPERMARKET’S controversial plans for a new store in Hampshire have been dealt a blow after the local chamber of trade voted against the proposal.
At their last meeting the Bishop’s Waltham Chamber of Trade voted to oppose the 35,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s store which supermarket bosses hope to build on the Abbey Mill site.
The news comes after a planning application was finally submitted by Sainsbury’s to Winchester City Council at the end of June.
As reported in the Daily Echo, Britain’s Got Talent judge and former Bishop’s Waltham resident Amanda Holden vented her anger over the controversial plans at the town’s carnival last month. The former Swanmore pupil has vowed to help those trying to stop the building of the new store.
Andrew Grover, chairman of the Chamber, who also owns a butchers on the High Street, said: “Such a large supermarket would inevitably reduce footfall on the High Street and put many local traders’ businesses at risk.
“The High Street is an important focus for the community and it provides part of the life and soul of the place that is now missing in far too many small towns. It is part of what makes Bishop’s Waltham special and we need to keep it.
“Sainsbury’s efforts to create a link to enable their customers to come into town simply won’t work over that distance.
Gerald Knight of GKA, Sainsbury’s consultants, said they’d come back to the Chamber with their proposals for links, but we never heard anything from them.”
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “We are disappointed that Bishop’s Waltham Chamber of Trade has decided to oppose our proposals to bring greater main food shopping choice to the town.
“We have tried to have a dialogue with the Chamber since the proposals were first introduced last year and we do not believe that this process has been concluded.
“In terms of linking with the town centre, we have evidence from other towns in which Sainsbury’s operate that linkage does work and where local traders have benefitted from increased footfall locally as a result of Sainsbury’s presence.
“Through the work that we have undertaken to date, we can strongly demonstrate that there is a need for greater main food shopping choice locally and that there is significant support for Sainsbury’s proposals from within the local community.”
Tony Kippenberger, chair of Bishop’s Waltham Action Group (BWAG) that was formed to oppose Sainsbury’s plans, said: “We are naturally delighted that the Chamber has voted this way and they now join the Bishops Waltham Society and BWAG in opposing the plans for the proposed superstore at the edge of the town.
Building work could start as early as September if the planning application is given the green light.
