Waitrose plans revealed in Leamington

Displayed at the Royal Priors shopping centre, the plans show that the supermarket will be 25,000 sq ft – the same size as the Waitrose in Kenilworth.

The front of the store would be on Warwick Street with access to a 160-space car park on Dale Street.

Property consultant Bill Wareing said the fire station’s town centre is what attracted Waitrose to the site.

He said: “Hopefully we will have a similar sort of thing as in Kenilworth – there a new youth centre was built while here a new fire station would be built.

“It’s to do with the public private partnership particularly these days when the government has no money it is more important than ever to get the private sector to stimulate the return so they can afford to build.

Waitrose was looking for ages to try and get into the town and we knew that the county were reviewing the future of the fire station because it is 50 years old and we just thought it would be a much better spot to put a supermarket then on the edge of town.

“It is going to have benefits of multi-shopping so people will use Waitrose and then shop in the town centre.

“You could say Royal Leamington Spa is a Waitrose town.”

The display drew much attention from interested shoppers and those who live near the site.

Grove Street resident Clive Carter, whose house would be directly opposite the rear of the store, said: “My main concern is traffic and parking, which has always caused a problem in Grove Street,

“The decriminalisation of parking has moved people that used to park in town to this area.

“Plans for social housing or residential properties would be better but I’ve been told that wouldn’t generate enough cash so if it has to be some type of retail I suppose Waitrose would be the lesser of two evils.

“I do like the digital impression of the building but it would be better if it was more in keeping with the properties in the area.”

The store would be for groceries only and would include a coffee shop and an online shopping service.

Likely opening times would be from 8.30am to 8pm from Monday to Thursday and on Saturdays, up to 9pm on Friday and from either 10am to 4pm or 11am to 5pm on Sundays.

Cllr Richard Hobbs, who is responsible for community safety at Warwickshire County Council has said that relocation of the fire station to a “more suitable” site is part of the authority’s integrated risk management plan.

A public consultation would be held about any proposed fire station move.

The Waitrose plans will also be on display in the Royal Priors tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am to 2pm.

For more on the plans read Friday’s Courier.