Sainsbury's pulls plug on supermarket plan for Eastleigh in Hampshire

5:42pm Friday 28th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Julian Robinson, Eastleigh Chief Reporter

Sainsbury's pulls plug on multi million pound supermarket plan Sainsbury's pulls plug on multi million pound supermarket plan

SAINSBURY'S has today dramatically pulled the plug on plans to build a multi-million pound supermarket in a Hampshire town.

The retail giant aimed to create more than 200 jobs by knocking down their 30-year-old store in Eastleigh and replacing it with a larger version.

But today the firm has announced it is withdrawing its plans claiming it “cannot support the costs” of the ambitious project.

Andrew Pepler, Sainsbury's regional town planning manager, said: “We have explained to the council that we cannot support the costs of the project and would not be able to sign the legal agreement and secure planning consent.”

The firm's plans included moves to build a state-of-the-art bus station, 500 extra parking spaces, new public toilets, a café and children's play area are part of the plans put forward by the retail giant. But campaigners have slammed the proposals because it will mean that more than 500 square metres of Leigh Road Recreation Ground is taken up by the new development.

Rescue the Rec, which organised a protest at the park on Saturday, said the new store would concrete over precious green space.

Max Whitehand, Sainsbury's regional development executive, added: “We are conscious that this decision will be very disappointing to a lot of people in Eastleigh and we would like to thank all those who supported our proposals. We very much regret that we will not be able to take forward this opportunity to invest in the regeneration of Eastleigh. We are happy to take up the offer of further discussions with the council.”

The decision will come as a blow to bosses at Eastleigh Borough Council who are trying to regenerate the centre of Eastleigh.

A new multi-million pound hotel has already been built and the Swan Centre's leisure complex was completed in recent years.

A council spokesman said: “Eastleigh Borough Council has worked over a number of years to improve Eastleigh town centre and bring new visitors to the town.

“The council welcomed Sainsbury's interest in investing in Eastleigh town centre and is disappointed not to be able to reach a conclusion on this proposal at this time. We continue to look for opportunities to continue the regeneration of the town centre and the borough as a whole.

“We remain open to further discussions with Sainsbury's in the future on how they might invest in Eastleigh town centre.”

More reaction in tomorrow's Daily Echo.

Comments(26)

MGRA says...
6:11pm Fri 28 Sep 12

In other words... Sainsburys were being screwed to the floor to pay for loads of colateral in return for being able to build and they rightly have given the authorities the two fingers....

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seriously??? says...
6:31pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Sad news but maybe they could start by making the retail rents more manageable and then we wouldnt have to be plagued by second hand shops and money shops - give people a reason to come into Eastleigh shopping

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stuartjebbitt says...
6:50pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Spoiling the most pleasant part of Eastleigh town with a concrete behemoth was a bad idea from the start, and a ‘quick fix’ approach. This council seems obsessed with building stuff in the hope that more stuff automatically equals more people coming to Eastleigh. Eastleigh needs a better USP than a giant supermarket, because there are already plenty of those nearby -- why not start thinking about our incredible Railway and Spitfire Heritage -- which is laying dormant and not being exploited at all. Why not start expanding the market to include
arts and crafts, antiques, everything.. make it a real attraction and make it easy to start a new stall. Make the rents more affordable so independent businesses can survive and stop the endless stream of parking patrols slapping on tickets on anything that dares stop for 5 mins.
Start thinking outside the box..
Let’s make Eastleigh SPECIAL by not following the pack and going down the clone town route.

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Zeo says...
7:20pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Brilliant news to hear :)

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longago says...
8:00pm Fri 28 Sep 12

well said 'stuartjebbit'. Let us hope that the Council decide to inject some Pride into decision making instead of quick fixes. People used to travel from afar to shop and wander around Eastleigh, it was vibrant and with a walk around the block you could buy anything you needed.

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huckit P says...
8:13pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Sad to see this because Eastleigh desperately needs something. A new Sainsbury's would have been a start but I see the NIMBY brigade are out in force and they must take some of the blame, probably along with EBC for insisting on the extras.
Maybe EBC could help improve the image by getting the place cleaned up - it is usually very dirty and on a good day just filthy.
They could also give the Swan Centre some TLC. It is one of the saddest excuses for a shopping centre you can find (and while they're at it get rid of the centre security morons who must be deaf judging by the volume on their radios).

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MGRA says...
8:52pm Fri 28 Sep 12

people are so economically illiterate..... I go often to Portstwood... I park in the sainsburys... I buy milk, beer and fruit juice in sainsburys and then I pop up the road and spend £20 at least in the International shop where most things are half the price of the stuff in sainsburys....Sainsb
urys would have saved Eastleigh from its destiny...

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sparkster says...
8:53pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Here here stuartjebbit well said

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Huffter says...
9:23pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Mr Sainsbury has obviously taken a good look at Eastleigh and decided it's not worth investing in..

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chunky_lover says...
9:38pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Well said, demolish the council, sack the deadbeats, and build a waitrose.

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Lockssmart says...
9:52pm Fri 28 Sep 12

You'd be better off selling caravans in Eastleigh.

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Peter Stewart says...
10:09pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Strange they appear to have backed out so soon after last Saturday's protest on Eastleigh Rec. Could it be due to a fear of what the terms of the deed contain? That Rec was conveyed to the people of Eastleigh in 1896. It was not to be used for commercial advantage. Right now, investigation is under way to determine exactly what that deed says.

If (repeat IF) this is a genuine backing out (rather than a sham designed either to knock the Council down on terms or allow the heat to die down a bit) then this is good news for the many objectors.

Above all it is good news for Eastleigh. A Sainsbury's mega-store would have split the town again. Such a split on top of that caused by the Swan Centre would kill off the old part of the Town on which the fortunes of the whole town depend.

As for creating 200 jobs, that is true. Also true is that it would have DESTROYED 350 LOCAL JOBS! Hardly a fair exchange.

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George4th says...
10:38pm Fri 28 Sep 12

This is great news for Southampton! It will mean more people visiting Southampton because Eastleigh has nothing to attract people.!!??
The people who opposed this plan should hold their heads in shame.

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Linesman says...
11:33pm Fri 28 Sep 12

George4th wrote:
This is great news for Southampton! It will mean more people visiting Southampton because Eastleigh has nothing to attract people.!!??
The people who opposed this plan should hold their heads in shame.
I doubt it. They would use the Sainsburys at Hedge End. Easy to get to and no parking problems.

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Linesman says...
11:33pm Fri 28 Sep 12

George4th wrote:
This is great news for Southampton! It will mean more people visiting Southampton because Eastleigh has nothing to attract people.!!??
The people who opposed this plan should hold their heads in shame.
I doubt it. They would use the Sainsburys at Hedge End. Easy to get to and no parking problems.

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userds5050 says...
12:33am Sat 29 Sep 12

Linesman wrote:
George4th wrote:
This is great news for Southampton! It will mean more people visiting Southampton because Eastleigh has nothing to attract people.!!??
The people who opposed this plan should hold their heads in shame.
I doubt it. They would use the Sainsburys at Hedge End. Easy to get to and no parking problems.
It's a supermarket already. You don't need hypermarkets in the centre of town. Southampton doesn't have a hypermarket in the centre so why should Eastleigh. Hang your head troll boy.

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mr.southampton says...
12:55am Sat 29 Sep 12

"The firm's plans included moves to build a state-of-the-art bus station, 500 extra parking spaces, new public toilets, a café and children's play area are part of the plans put forward by the retail giant."

If the Portswood experience is anything to go by, you have to wonder how much of this sugar-coating would have been in the actual development.

I seem to remember the Portswood plans involved a community facility and affordable homes - both conspicuous by their absence.

Sainsburys also threw their toys out of the pram and halted construction at one point because of some planning issue with Southampton Council - so dont blame EBC.

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manchester1999 says...
2:09am Sat 29 Sep 12

It's great news for the park but a shame we won't see a very dated building replaced with a more elegent alternative. I could have lived with expanding west into the market area a little but it would have swallowed too much of the park (as proposed) which has a character all of it's own.

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Ferngully says...
8:38am Sat 29 Sep 12

Huffter wrote:
Mr Sainsbury has obviously taken a good look at Eastleigh and decided it's not worth investing in..
Can't say I blame then, its the pits ...

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countrywench says...
8:59am Sat 29 Sep 12

Well said ' seriously??? '

The rents on the old parts of the Eastleigh ' shopping experience ' are way to high to attract new retailers . My suggestion would be to freeze any rent increase for 5 years to attract new business . There are way to many charity shops and i see yet another 2 shops are closed opposite the Halifax , this in turn puts people off coming to Eastleigh , unless of course its to meet up for a coffee as we seem to have an awful lot of coffee shops ! How awful does a shop window look covered in posters ? It sure wont attract new business or shoppers ..
In an age of internet shopping wouldn't it be a good idea to attract people to come to the town where they can get everything they need within a 10 minute walk .
And as for the people who protested against Sainsbury , i would ask just how many of you actually go and sit in the park , use the park , even walk by the park !
The new generation coming through the ranks dont want museums , charity shops, they wont visit an old train station museum more than once , then we would be reduced to coaches bringing visitors to us , but what else will there be for them to spend their on ?
I for one would love to see Eastleigh dragged kicking and screaming into the 21 century ..

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ohec says...
10:54am Sat 29 Sep 12

Not a victory for anyone just a very sad day for Eastleigh, the plan was very ambitious from the start and like a lot of other companies in the present economic climate Sainsbury's have re-evaluated the scheme and come to the conclusion that its not viable given how much was being asked of them.
But to all of those against the proposal don't complain when Eastleigh bites the dust as it surely will without radical intervention.

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userds5050 says...
11:35am Sat 29 Sep 12

ohec wrote:
Not a victory for anyone just a very sad day for Eastleigh, the plan was very ambitious from the start and like a lot of other companies in the present economic climate Sainsbury's have re-evaluated the scheme and come to the conclusion that its not viable given how much was being asked of them.
But to all of those against the proposal don't complain when Eastleigh bites the dust as it surely will without radical intervention.
Eastleigh recently got a new cinema, bowling, bar, restaurant complex as part of the Swan centre expansion. Not sure how a bigger sainsbury's is more ambitious but each to their own. Hypermarkets in town centres don't work.

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TheBlackBalaclava says...
12:08pm Sat 29 Sep 12

I can assure you that those of us that took part in the rally to protect the Eastleigh Recreation Ground, DO visit and use it. Comments from some readers are clearly not informed of the facts. This is a victory for local people, a victory for common sense and a victory for the future generations of this Borough. I salute Sainsbury's for looking again at their plans and deciding that this scheme was both to big and not appropriate for the location. I am not against the regeneration of Eastleigh, just against regeneration of the town regardless of the cost to ALL residents.

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huckit P says...
9:35pm Sat 29 Sep 12

Oh! And another thing. Taking away part of Eastleigh Rec would leave less space for the drunks, druggies and chavs to congregate.

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tintin33 says...
12:53pm Sun 30 Sep 12

bring in more charity shops and make it the mecca of the south coast for cheap goods

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thedavie says...
12:54pm Sun 30 Sep 12

Perhaps a Railway & a Spitfire museum would draw people to Eastleigh
Also a 6/7 day covered market area would give starter traders a chance to get off the ground & bring more people to the town
Take a look at Spittalfield in London for inspiration Eastleigh Council
Also beware of granting yourselves planning for sites without sorting parking
People do not go to the Point as there is no parking
Who wishes in the winter dark nights to venture from Council car parks to The Point

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