Council say that supermarket 'of a similar profile' will take the space

The news that Waitrose Supermarket will not now be coming to The Oaks Shopping Centre in Acton has been blasted by locals and the Conservative opposition.

Waitrose have stated on their company Twitter account, "It is with regret that we are no longer progressing with plans to lease the supermarket unit in The Oaks Shopping Centre. This is not a decision we have taken lightly."

The Council say that another retailer 'of similar profile' will be taking the space instead.

Despite much opposition, planning permission was granted for the redevelopment three years ago and one of the major features to try and sell the new scheme was Waitrose opening in the centre.

The Acton Regeneration Company had said at the time, ''The regeneration benefits that Waitrose will bring to Acton as our anchor tenant will be considerable.''

The shock news that the store would not now be opening was revealed at a residents' meeting last night (18 May) and Conservative Opposition Leader, Councillor Greg Stafford has written to the Council Leader to find out when the decision was taken and when this information was shared with the Council.

Cllr Greg Stafford said, “The timing and the delivery of the news that Waitrose along with 500 jobs will no longer be coming to The Oaks Shopping Centre is very suspect.   Many residents who fought against the plans for the redevelopment have always believed that the Waitrose was touted to silence local opposition and obtain planning permission.”

A council spokesperson said, “Waitrose had signed a heads of terms agreement with the developers of the Oaks and had confirmed their intention to open a store in the new centre, but have unfortunately decided to pull out. Our understanding is that another retailer of a similar profile has agreed to move in to the Oaks and the developer will be announcing this in due course. The scheme was approved based on its planning merits and not on the retail occupiers.”

19 May 2016