Belsize Park protesters celebrate as Sainsbury's ditches supermarket plan

Opposition:Dame Janet Suzman, on right in the foreground with Jessica Learmond-Criqui, was among those opposing a plan for a Sainsbury’s Local in Belsize Park
Nigel Howard

Residents were celebrating today after Sainsbury’s abandoned plans to open a supermarket in their north London neighbourhood.

Actress Janet Suzman was among those who protested against a Sainsbury’s Local opening on the site of a former toy shop in Haverstock Hill, next to Belsize Park Tube station.

Campaigners twice staged demonstrations, saying the proposed store would harm local traders and cause problems with its deliveries, and more than 740 people signed a petition against it. The group also successfully campaigned to stop a Tesco opening at the site last year and want other chains to stay away.

Dame Janet said: “I am not naturally a shops campaigner but I was irritated by the greed. I think that the big guys — and by that I mean the big corporations and conglomerates — should stay away from our villages.

“These supermarkets belong in car parks outside small towns, where there are no other small shops. They are killing high streets. The worst thing is the delivery trucks on small streets around London. They don’t mind if they get a parking ticket and just plonk them in congested zones. They are polluting behemoths which no one loves and are unwanted.”

However, the campaign was criticised by Theo Blackwell, cabinet member for finance on Labour-run Camden council, who said protesters “are making it seem like the area is too posh for average family shops used by normal people”.

Campaign leader Jessica Learmond-Criqui welcomed the decision by Sainsbury’s which came after it failed to reach a deal with site owner Sasha Traders, which has permission for six storeys of flats and ground-floor retail unit.

She said: “If our response to Sainsbury’s had any part to play in their decision I would like to thank them for listening to us.

“I would urge the developers to look for a tenant which the community sorely lacks, such as a hardware store. It’s a conservation area and we should be guardians. Mr Blackwell’s comments were a bit hurtful and had elements of class war which I think were totally unnecessary.”

A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “We have been unable to agree a commercial deal with the developer and have decided not to progress our plans at Belsize Park station.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT