Sainsbury’s are on the verge of publishing plans for a significantly larger new store adjacent to the current store in Redhill town centre, with a public exhibition to gather residents’ views on the plans due next week (on 27th and 29th January).
Although few details are yet available publicly, the plans are believed to consist of redevelopment of the office block (Lombard House) to the north of the current Sainsbury’s store, with a new, much larger store, around 3 times the size of the current store, being built. The new store would have more parking (557 spaces) and there would be a 100 bed hotel and gym on the site. The area to the south of the current travelators, ie the other shop units, library and Harlequin, would remain as they are but the canopy and stairs up to the Harlequin would be replaced with a new stairwell.
Redhill’s Councillors received a presentation on proposals at an earlier stage and made a number of comments on them, but have only just received an update on the latest proposals therefore it is too soon to say whether all of the comments have been taken on board. Also, no formal planning application has yet been submitted.
Sainsbury’s have published a website giving and outline of their plans, at www.sainsburys-aviva-redhill.co.uk.
The public exhibition will take place from 12 noon to 6pm on Thursday 27th January, and 10am to 2pm on Saturday 29th January. The Sainsbury’s consultation team can be contacted on 0845 602 1151 or through sainsburysaviva-redhill@gka.co.uk. Note that if a formal planning application is submitted there will be a separate consultation period of a number of weeks, during which residents can submit their views.
We will post more information on this page on the details of the proposals and the public consultation as soon as we receive them.
We very much welcome your comments on the proposals on this page (subject to our usual “fair comment” policy), which we can then take to Sainsbury’s for responses where relevant and we will also take them into account when we are in a position to decide on the merits of the scheme.
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Redhill needs a better and larger shopping facility. If now new stores such as Waitrose etc want to come then let Sainsburys go ahead.
If the entrance to the Harlequin can be improved even better as this area is still a collection point for undesirable characters who make too much litter and noise. In addition improve the reliabilty of the lifts, one of which is more out of order then working.
John Loughton
Brilliant news. This is exactly what Redhill needs and I must say we need a bigger Sainsbury’s! Anything that can be done to improve the awful ‘architecture’ we currently abide is very welcome.
John – thanks – I agree that we need more shopping floorspace and choice in Redhill, especially in terms of food shopping. Work that the Council/Councillors have been doing for a few years now should result in a number of options on this front – you are aware of the Tesco proposal, but watch this space for news of further options.
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Yes, I woudl also love to get rid of the existing canopy over the Harlequin entrance, although from what I have seen so far of these plans I think more needs to be done than is proposed here – I would not want one inadequate canopy/staircase to be replaced by another one.
New stores like Tesco & a a new Sainsbury’s can only be a good thing for Redhill. Letting Sainsbury’s take over a mostly un-used office block is a win-win sitation (how many un-used blocks are in Redhill?).
A new Sainsbury’s will also majorly improve the look of the town when arriving from Merstham, because let’s face it, the existing red brick you see everywhere isn’t too pleasing.
I currently travel to Morrison’s in Reigate, as the current Sainbury’s is not a good experience). Two decent (new) supermarkets will keep locals in Redhill & also bring more people into the town. This would revive other shops in the area with the uptake in visitors.
I’m keen to see the full plan for Sainbury’s. I would hope that the paln also allows for the redevelopment of the shop fronts of the shops outside the existing Sainsbury’s and completely revamp the entry to the Harlequin.
I agree with all the comments so far. I live in Redhill, to the north of the town, but only venture into it to go to Sainsbury’s which I tend to alternate with Tesco at Hookwood at it’s bigger and has more choice. Otherwise I always shop in Reigate as it’s such a pleasant experience. I too hope that a larger supermarket in Redhill will encourage more independent retailers as Reigate. Redhill is in drastic need of some soul as well as a facelift. At the moment it is very uninviting.
The office block is most definately not ‘unused’ it’s occupied on every floor! There’s Lloyds FairPlay, Lombard, President, Tesco Compare & Santander in there at the moment… We’ve not been told anything yet about any planned move out of the building which is understandable given this is only at early planning stages. I think there’s a massive error in not including plans for redeveloping the hideous theatre and library area though – if they’re going to bother doing it at all they need to sort out the whole harlequin/quadrant mess not stick a nice roadside front on it and leave tramps and drunks round the back hidden under a new glass staircase!!!
So… what about the Lombard building… what is happening with that?
What will happen to the companies using the offices which Lombard currently occupies? While a bigger Sainsburys is nice. I’d rather use those companies to encourage other businesses to the area (Lloyds register) rather than generating a couple of hundred jobs, you’d generate a couple of thousand. Especially since we’re supposed to be getting a large Tesco, this really is un-needed and infact will devalue the area and generate less employment.
Thanks for the new comments.
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Regarding the Lombard building, assuming a planning application comes in the loss of employment/office space will be a factor in the decision, as the Council’s planning policies discourage such loss of office space (although if, for example, the companies are re-housed within the town then this would probably be taken into account).
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Alex – good point about the potential missed opportunity for redevelopment of the Quadrant as a whole and the need for any changes to improve issues of anti social behavour.
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Mr Packman – the Tesco application is yet to be determined, so will not necessarily happen. The Council will need to take this (and any other supermarket proposals which may be in the pipeline) into full account so that we avoid having either too many or too few supermarkets.
All this is exciting, but expereince shows that major developments take time. Redhill needs a big shot in the arm now and I am disappointed that Tesco first told the public abouit its plans two years ago but there is stil no decsion, on what must be simpler than Sainsburys. What people say about not missing the opportunity for developing the Harliquin is right.Meanwhile I dont do as much shopping in Redhill as I could.
lots have been said about the tesco and sainsburys plans,but is there any info on the asda plans at the cromwell road site? i have heard that tenants have been asked what locations they woild like to be moved to.
I believe for a place like redhill and considering the population, present Sainsbury and other eminities are more than sufficient.. we already have enough traffic in redhill and we definately do not want more traffic to make our redhill a congestion zone.
Thanks to everyone for the further comments.
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Andy – for information on the ASDA proposal, which has just been announced, see the separate article here:
http://www.redhillcouncillors.co.uk/2011/01/breaking-news-asda-announces-plans-for-store-in-redhill/
We went to the exhibition and were impressed with the plans shown. However we are cocerned about the effect on traffic in this area. As you know there is a lot of through traffic on the A23 which passes close to this site and access to the Sainsbury’s car park is off from this road travelling north. We wait to see the proper proposal plans when they are issued in order to make serious comment.
How does this proposal affect the other proposals from Tesco and Asda ?
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Moulder – thank you for the comments. Regarding the highways implications, yes I share your concerns. If a planning application is submitted then Surrey County Council will have to decide whether the impact of the proposals will cause problems, and require Sainsbury’s to take mitigating actions. SCC and RBBC are already conducting a study of proposals for how to keep the traffic running in future, therefore there is already a traffic model for the town which should enable this to be evaluated in some depth.
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In terms of the impact on the other proposals (from Tesco and ASDA), I understand that both of these other companies are generally comfortable that their own proposals still are viable – this backs up the Council’s studies which suggest that there is enough of a local market to sustain at least one more supermarket.
Potentially the more interesting question is how the emergence of the ASDA proposals will affect the Tesco plans – I think it very unlikely that the town can sustain two new supermarkets on the southern edge of the town centre, and indeed the Council will need to consider carefully whether planning permission could be justified for both sites.
This is a fantastic proposal. I urge the council to grant Sainsburys planning permission as soon as possible, though obviously after consultation with local residents. Historically these projects take years to come to fruition but Redhill needs this now. Let’s see common sense prevail and not allow Sainsburys to take their investment and jobs elsewhere!
I was interested to hear from the Devlopment team when I visited the exhibition last week that they hope to start work by the end of the year. I also noticed that they would be creating 350 new jobs. There was no mention of the loss of 1,000+ jobs if companies do not relocate in Redhill after the closure of Lombard House. And thats a lot of people who use Sainsburys during the week. No mention of road improvements yet they are creating 500 more parking spaces. Anyone knows who works or lives in Redhill the problem with traffic round the LOmbard roundabout
We do not need a larger Sainsbury’s we need a competitor . We dont need any more Health clubs there are at least 4 in Redhill area and there are plenty of Hotels within the Redhil catchment area. Lets have some choice as to where we can shop.
A lot of staff are going to be displaced when that office block is destroyed, and they have to endure a long period of uncertainty while the companies there work out what they are going to do.
As one of those who may have to pay the price of this development, I freely admit that I’m hardly cheering about it. Having said that, I think there are a few questions that need answering.
I presume Sainsbury’s will start selling more non-foodstuffs – what will that extra competition do to the smaller shops struggling to survive?
It’s also going to provide a hotel and gym. Can’t help feeling that if there was much demand for a hotel in central Redhill, we might have one already. It doesn’t strike me as an obvious choice for Redhill.
As for the gym, there are already 2 in the Belfry, plus Donyngs and the YMCA. Has demand been identified?
Seems to me the Council should be focussing on filling the empty shops in the town.
What’s the impact going to be on the town during construction? During that time, there will be no supermarket and close on half the town centre parking may be out of commission. That’s got to affect trade, and I would assume that it has been considered and assessed by the Council.
Thanks to everyone for the recent comments, which I will raise at the next meeting I have on the subject. Just a few comments/clarifications:
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Traffic – you’re right, there wasn’t much detail on the traffic impact, and whatever they propose will need to tie up with work which the County Council is currently doing on the future of the town centre’s roads (which already included ways of improving the Lombard Roundabout).
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Hotel – the Council’s earlier studies showed that there is some level of demand for one in the town centre, and this was supported in the public consultation in 2008. Having worked for a couple of different local businesses in recent years I know that some extra space is needed, especially near Redhill station so that travellers from Gatwick or London can easily visit offices in Redhill and Reigate.
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Gym overcapacity and loss of offices – both are on my agenda to ask about further.
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During construction – Sainsbury’s insist that the store will remain open throughout (the current store as they build part of the new one, then it will switch to the new one, I believe), as will the parking.
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Thanks again for your comments.
I asked the people running the Sainsbury’s exhibition what was going to happen with the offices. They said they didn’t knbow except the leases ran out in 2014 and they hoped they’d move before then so they could get on with the development. A few things from this-
a. apparently super duper plans, but they haven’t ven got to first base with thinking about where the office firms will go, how and when
b. we’re talking major players here – Santander, Lombard, Nestle, RBS – what’s the world going to think of investing their business in Redhill if these firms get booted out for a megastore?
c. 2014? A better supermarket now, not in a few years’ time – and one that provides CHOICE
d. This is a monster store, 80,000 square foot sales area aparently – no one can sell that much food and which mneans this would have all the clothes, elctrical goods, kitchen applicances you get in the realy big stores – bue bye Belfry Centre!
e. Traffic? Don’t make me laugh! We all know how congestedit gets by the Lombard building. Why ad to this traffic when Tesco is at the other end of town so that traffic can be spread with less not more traffic at the London Road / Princess Way roundabout
Some further information following a meeting I attended this evening:
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- We can expect an application to be submitted this Friday (11 February) – it should appear on the Sainsbury’s website (linked to in this article), then on the Council’s website early next week, once it has formally been registered and checked through.
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- Office space – Aviva and their agents are in discussion with the office tenants over potential relocation within the town, for example by identifying suitable vacant space. They make the valid point that as their leases are up in 2014 anyway, and the Lombard officer would need comprehensive refurbishment at that time, they would have to look at relocation (permanent or temporary) anyway. I will pursue this point further as I think strong efforts need to be made to keep as many in the town as possible (although ultimately it will be for each company to decide where it wants to be).
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- Traffic – results of a traffic study will be submitted with the application, so we will have to scrutinise that when it is available. They have worked with the County Council in modelling the impact, and have taken into account changes which SCC are already considering for the local road network to make it flow more freely.
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Gym – it’s their problem if they can’t ultimately let it and not something the Council can refuse permission on; they assure me that they have a number of operators currently interested.
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I will post a link to the plans once available and we can all then start reading it, to pick up any further points. I do think the plans have come on a long way since the early versions, but there is always scope to raise further issues once the detail comes in.
A bigger better Sainsbury’s and hopefully Asda would be very beneficial to Redhill. This is also a second chance to get the entrance to the Library / Harlequin right. Both being on the first floor, their general access is currently very poor and,significantly, does not present a public face to the man on the street; I am convinced this does not help their appeal / business. Furthermore, the stairs are substantial and the lifts disgusting, even when they work. I would suggest: escalators, glass lifts i.e open to see to distract from vandalism and perhaps a desk at street level housed in a new attrium / lobby to make access more convenient and attract passsing interest. Finally, the whole area from Sainsbury’s to the main cross roads needs to be brought to life and not allowed to remain the uninviting place it currently is,inhabited mainly by undesirables etc.
Mr Roberts – thank you for your comment. The Council has pushed very hard to get Sainsbury’s/AVIVA to include major improvements to the canopy area and indeed the whole section from Maple Square to the Sainsbury’s entrance in this application. From the discussions I have been involved in so far the plans do look promising, and a ground floor presene for the Harlequin is something that I am also very keen to see.
pls lets keep Sainsburys, a waitrose or similar too would be nice, i have lived and owned retail bus. all my life. we couls make Redhill a really intersting, contempory, arty town. if you are going to do it, do it once but get it right this time, the Station is a major concern , dirty, hard work for diabled or puchchairs and an eyesore, bring back the cineama for all tha family take away the night club and some of the grotty pubs! the tourists arriving from Gatwick or London come out to a complete disaster. i now have a business in Cheam village, 90%independent bus. what a difference! the Surrey Mirror also should be more Redhill friendly always favouring Reigate i feel where i also have a bus. the Harlequin needs a visable entrnca at ground level to catch the eye again with proper access the list goes on.
also the plans should have been available on a Sunday so people like me self employed in retail could have a close up look!