i-Transport LLP is excited to announce the successful opening of a new 12,000m2 Sainsbury’s store in Sutton town centre in South London in December 2016, in time for the main Christmas shopping period. This is the first phase of a major town centre regeneration project, which the London office has supported LXB Properties with since 2011, from initial concept and planning brief, through to planning application, conditions’ discharge, and s278 assistance.
The site was formerly a 1960’s office block and gas storage cylinders, with a particularly unappealing public realm. We successfully achieved planning consent for the new Sainsbury’s with a further 2,500m2 of non-food retail and 186 residential units in 2013. Significant highway improvements were achieved to enhance pedestrian crossing movements across the one-way system separating the site from the rest of the town centre, as well as widening footways, and enhancing connectivity. The proposal also safeguarded land for future implementation of the extension of the London tram network.
Neil Marshall, Associate Partner in the London office, commented “Having grown up in Sutton, I was hugely excited to be a key player in the regeneration of the neglected north end of the town centre. Having seen site slowly fall into disrepair over a number of years, it was great to be part of the vision of this rapidly expanding town centre. A key aspect of the project was to ensure that the site, whilst separated from the rest of the pedestrianised town centre by the one-way traffic system, felt fully integrated into the town, to encourage those visiting the Sainsbury’s to shop in the remainder of the town centre, and vice versa. This has been accomplished by significantly enhancing the pedestrian footway and road crossings, creating attractive and direct routes along key desire lines. This was achieved in close collaboration with officers at the London Borough of Sutton and TfL, whilst also ensuring that traffic delays are kept to a minimum and the route for the potential future extension of the London tram has been safeguarded. I’m excited to see what benefits the future non-food retail and residential phases will bring”.
