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.
We’ve already got Tesco and Lidl. Do we really need another food supermarket at Fairacres?
Yes we do..
Having a choice of where to shop is a good thing. Not having to go to Oxford (central or Cowley) or Didcot is a good thing.
The food is better than T & L.
It is providing some jobs.
Collecting M&S orders from there will be helpful too.
Yes, I like M&S food and currently I have to go to Didcot or order it through Ocado.
Also Abingdon is expanding; when we moved here, in 1977, Key Markets was the only supermarket. Tescos came and then Waitrose, more recently, Lidl and Aldi. As the population increases so does demand for supermarket shopping.
I’m delighted M&S is coming to Abingdon! I currently use Ocado but am looking forward to shopping in the store instead. They will do well because it’s not ordinary food, it’s M&S food!
the consumer will decide yes or no.
I’m looking forward to its arrival and am sure it will do very well.
Much better if they were a clothes M&S, not a food M&S.
Why would M & S want a store in the centre of Abingdon ? it;s run down and over run with Turkish barbers and if you want a coffee or buy a house that’s about it the town centre is run down thanks to Abingdon town council who are totally out of touch.
I wish M & S all the luck and it will save me having to go to Didcot which I must say the Orchid centre is a nice place to visit with plenty of parking unlike Abingdon.