Theresa Villiers, MP for Barnet, has welcomed the reassurance from Sainsbury’s that they have no plans to shut down and redevelop their New Barnet store.
Ms Villiers had contacted them after a constituent reported that staff at the store had been told it was due to be closed and knocked down to make way for flats.
“I welcome confirmation that Sainsbury’s is not pulling out of New Barnet. I was alarmed when I heard that a constituent had been told it was shutting down its store there.”
“This shop is a key part of the economy of New Barnet town centre, as well as being an important facility for local people. It is very worrying that the site is earmarked for redevelopment in the draft new Barnet Local Plan. I urged the council not to include it in their list of development sites and will continue to do that when the public inquiry takes place on the new plan.”
“However, even if it does end up in the new Local Plan, redevelopment cannot go ahead without agreement from Sainsbury’s. The letter I have received today makes it clear that the retailer want their New Barnet store to stay open. That is good news.”
On Friday, Theresa Villiers received this email from Rachel Harnick from Sainsbury’s head office:
“Dear Ms Villiers,
Thank you for your email regarding the concerns your constituent has raised about the potential closure of our New Barnet store. I have been asked to respond to you personally and welcome the chance to address these concerns.
At Sainsbury’s our mission is to be the most trusted retailer where people love to work and shop. We have a long history of building strong partnerships with the communities we serve and are committed to meeting the needs of our customers.
After raising your concerns with our internal stakeholders, I am pleased to confirm that we do have a long lease of this store and we do not have any current plans to redevelop or exit it. In addition, there have not been any formal discussions with the council on the subject to date, and any proposals for redevelopment would clearly need to be subject to a full planning application process.
We truly appreciate your constituent highlighting these issues and I would like to extend our sincerest apologies for any distress that this matter has caused.
I do hope that the above information provides both yourself and your constituent some reassurance of our commitment to meeting the needs of our community.
Thank you for taking the time to contact Sainsbury’s.
Kind regards,
Rachel Harnick
Executive Office | J Sainsbury plc | 33 Holborn | London | EC1N 2HT”
