Sainsbury's shelves city store scheme

Last updated 10:06, Saturday, 26 July 2008

A blow to Carlisle’s growth and regeneration hopes come with Sainsbury’s dropped plans to open a supermarket on the Rickerby’s site in Currock Road.

Sainsbury has shelved its £20m scheme for an 80,000 square feet store, employing 350 people.

The store would have injected new life into the Currock area of the city, bolstered local employment prospects and given Carlisle shoppers much needed greater choice.

The site’s developers blame the outcome of the Carlisle local plan inquiry for Sainsbury’s change of heart.

The inspector ruled out plans for a large supermarket at Morton, making it unlikely that developers would win approval for similar-sized stores elsewhere in Carlisle.

Though the company says it has other positions and premises in mind for a move into Carlisle, while one of its bigger stores and developers MacDonald Estates insist some other retail options may still be open for the Rickerby’s site, there’s a sense of momentum having been lost as Currock hopes have been dashed.

Sainsbury’s investigations into alternative sites take their investment commitment to Carlisle several steps back and the developers say they won’t be rushing in with another food store planning application.

Such is the repeated story of growth and regeneration in Carlisle.