THREE hundred jobs could be created under a plan by supermarket chain Sainsbury’s to open a store in Carterton.
All the units at the town’s West Oxfordshire Retail and Business Park, in Upavon Way, have stood empty since the end of 2007 and residents have welcomed news that Sainsbury’s is set to submit a planning application this summer.
The land in Upavon Way currently has planning permission to be developed for non-food retail and business uses.
The new store would be about 26,000 sq ft – half the size of the firm’s Witney store.
Sainsbury’s development surveyor Ben Littman said: “We’re keen to open a new store in Carterton, as the majority of people who live in and around the town currently undertake their main food shopping outside the area.
“Keeping shoppers in the area has to be better for the town, rather than having them travel to other destinations.”
Residents and traders hope it will attract more businesses to come in.
Jim Cover, owner of the retail and business park, said: “Sainsbury’s would be a terrific asset to Carterton and help deliver the wider development of the retail and business park.
Annie Biggs, 53, of Oakfield Road, Carterton, said: “I think if we had a Sainsbury’s people would come from all of the surrounding areas and the villages.
“It’s such a shame that the retail park is just lying empty – perhaps if Sainsbury’s came, it would attract more businesses to follow.
“I think anything that would bring a bit more business to the area, pull the retailers in a bit more, would be brilliant.”
Carterton currently has Co-op and Somerfield supermarkets.
Mrs Biggs added: “I go to Witney for Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, so something like this in Carterton would be marvellous, as I wouldn’t have to go up to Witney.”
Pensioner Jean Kenyon, 72, of Harvest Bank, Carterton, said: “It would be good, as Sainsbury’s has good offers.
“I live on the estate and we have only got a small Co-op, which has just the basics, so if you want anything different you have to go further.”
Christopher Marriott, a senior partner at the retail park’s agent, Marriotts, said that none of the retail units in the park had been let.
He said: “The units have a planning restriction for bulky goods and that sector of the market has been badly hit by the recession.
“It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation.
“No-one is prepared to open a shop there until they know what’s happening.”
Nearby residents will be consulted on the supermarket chain’s plans in the next few months.
Last week, Sainsbury’s opened a new supermarket in Market Place, Chipping Norton, after refitting the former Somerfield store. It was one of 24 shops across the country bought by Sainsbury’s under competition rules, following the Co-op’s recent takeover of Somerfield.
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