Yesterday, a crane was lifting cabins from lorries into the yard at the rear of the former Homebase store at Fairacres Retail Park in Abingdon.

Somebody was measuring for a replacement of the Homebase sign at the entrance to the park.

Lights were on inside the building. Work had begun.

Fairacres is an out-of-town retail park, originally intended for bulky, non-food retailing. Under planning application P25/V1108/FUL, the Vale of White Horse District Council considered Marks & Spencer’s proposal to redevelop the former Homebase store, which was restricted by earlier planning conditions to non-food sales only. Because of the potential impact on Abingdon town centre, the application was reviewed by the council’s independent retail adviser, Nexus Planning.

The owners of the Bury Street shopping precinct argued that the M&S Foodhall should be located in the town centre. However, the council’s independent retail adviser concluded that the Charter Area would not be realistically available within a reasonable timescale, and that the Bury Street Shopping Centre does not contain a large enough store for a modern M&S Foodhall.

The retail adviser also had to determine whether the new store would cause significant harm to Abingdon town centre or to planned investment and regeneration in the Charter Area. They concluded that any loss of trade to Waitrose would be modest, that the town centre was healthy, and that the Foodhall would not undermine regeneration of the charter or future investment.

As a result, the council granted M&S permission, and the M&S Foodhall project is moving ahead and the M&S website has a place where people can express an interest in jobs.

The proposals also initially included a mini roundabout at the junction of Nuffield Way with the Fairacres Retail Park access road. Oxfordshire County Council, the Local Highway Authority, judged that the mini roundabout was not required and it has been dropped.