Published at 09:11, Friday, 22 January 2010

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has submitted a fourth set of plans for a £40 million store in Carlisle just days before they were due to be debated by the council.

The plans, which have so far attracted more than 100 letters of support and four petitions, include alterations to access and the position of the proposed petrol station and separate retail units at the front of the site.

They were due to be debated by council planners next Friday but have now been put back until around March

Sainsbury’s says it is heartened by the level of support from the public as letters continue to be sent to the council six months after the plans were first publicised.

So far, 121 people have written in – just six of those are against the plans.

Four petitions with hundreds of signatures have also been collected.

Marion Jones, the landlady of The Joiner’s Arms, is behind one of the petitions, which has more than 200 signatures.

She lives above the pub and is fed up of looking at the derelict land. She believes the entire Caldewgate area has been neglected since the floods in 2005.

“I was so excited when I first heard about the plan. It will bring jobs and some life back to Caldewgate,” she said.

“I can’t see how the council can say that it would cause congestion in the area when you’ve got everyone from the west side of the city travelling to Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Tesco – that’s where the congestion is."

The latest letter, from Chrissie Upward, of Green Lane, Belle Vue, says a supermarket at Caldewgate would “breathe life into the area and attract more businesses”.

“We begrudge the time, effort and mileage it takes to get to get to one of the main supermarkets, especially as we get older,” she said.

“It would be good for Carlisle to have a supermarket like Sainsbury’s to challenge Tesco and give a different range of products.”

She called on the council to take “a longer view” and not a “quick fix” which gave them land for the university and “yet another Tesco” at Morton.

Tesco already has planning consent for a 40,000sq ft store in Viaduct Estate, on the edge of the city centre.

But it is ready to give up its land there to the University of Cumbria in return for a council-owned plot at Morton.

Sainsbury’s store, at the corner of Bridge Street and Bridge Lane, would be 60,000sq ft with a 446-space car park, and could create up to 500 jobs. If planning consent was given, they believe it could be open by late 2011/early 2012.

Jo Try, Sainsbury’s regional development executive, said they believed there was enough capacity for both Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

“We are quite confident we can demonstrate a need that will allow planning officers to recommend [the store] for approval,” she said.

“We firmly believe that the south west of Carlisle is under-served [by supermarkets].”

The supermarket has sent out 10,000 leaflets and feedback forms and held two public exhibitions

Miss Try said 99 per cent of feedback from consultation at last October’s exhibition was favourable.

“We wanted to ensure that as many local people as possible could have their say on this important development and I would like to thank everyone for their comments.

“We’ve also been greatly encouraged by the number of people that have contacted us throughout the last year to support the proposals.”

The amendments follow points raised in consultation.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk